Gen. Gilbert Diendere, a longtime right-hand man to ousted president Blaise Compaore [7] and head of his presidential guard, seized power from Burkina Faso's transitional government on Sept. 17—sparking street protests in the capital Ouagadougou in which three were killed. The following day, the new junta—calling itself the National Council for Democracy—released interim president Michel Kafando, in a bid to quell protests. But prime minister Isaac Zida remains in custody. The US and France have condemned the coup, but both have critical security interests in the country, and have worked closely with Gen. Diendere for years. Burkina Faso serves as a rear base for regional counterterrorism operations and contributes troops to both the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali [8] and the US-led Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership [9]. (CSM [10], BBC News [11], Sept. 18; Afrique Jet [12], Sept. 17)
The coup follows a controversy over the interim government barring the former foreign minister and former sports minister from running in elections which were scheduled for October. They were barred on the grounds that they had backed ex-president Compaore's failed bid to cling to power during last October's popular revolution. Compaore was driven from power by street protests after he tried to change the constitution to allow him to extend his 27-year rule. The new elections were supposed return the country to democratic rule after a year-long transition. (News24 [13], France, Sept. 11)
