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Burkina Faso Military Seizes Barracks of Coup Holdouts | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The Burkina Faso military crushed the last remnants of a failed coup on Tuesday, overrunning the barracks of the elite unit that staged the coup 13 days ago. | |
The military announced late in the evening that it had shelled and then seized the Camp Naaba Koom barracks, near the presidential palace here in the capital. The action followed a tense standoff, with troops loyal to the country’s transitional government surrounding the camp, the palace and other key buildings in the capital. Holdouts from the elite unit, the Presidential Security Regiment, had refused to surrender, even after the leader of the coup, Gen. Gilbert Diendéré, called on Tuesday for them to lay down their weapons. | |
Tanks and other armored vehicles took up positions outside the palace and the barracks, and soldiers were seen near the airport and the national radio and television stations. The airport was closed, sporadic gunfire was heard in the city, and the government told residents to stay away from the palace and the surrounding neighborhood, known as Ouaga 2000. | |
Though the coup leaders handed power back to the transitional government last week after a mediation effort by West African leaders, the government has not yet retaken full control of Ouagadougou. | |
Referring to the coup regiment by its French initials, the government said Tuesday that it had taken steps “to guarantee its security, to pursue the process of disarming the former R.S.P., and to achieve the surrender of the die-hards entrenched in Camp Naaba Koom.” | |
Reuters reported late Tuesday, citing an army officer whom it did not name, that the troops entering the camp met little resistance. There was no immediate information concerning casualties. | |
The regiment is considered to be loyal to Blaise Compaoré, the former president, who was toppled by a mass uprising last October after 27 years in power. Mr. Compaoré is living in exile in Morocco, but his associates and supporters remain active; the coup followed efforts by the transitional government to exclude them from an election this fall. | |
Officers of the regiment seized the palace on the night of Sept. 16 and detained the interim president, Michel Kafando, and prime minister, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida. The two men have been released, and were formally reinstated last Wednesday after a diplomatic intervention by the presidents of Senegal and Benin, along with other leaders of the Economic Community of West African States. | Officers of the regiment seized the palace on the night of Sept. 16 and detained the interim president, Michel Kafando, and prime minister, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida. The two men have been released, and were formally reinstated last Wednesday after a diplomatic intervention by the presidents of Senegal and Benin, along with other leaders of the Economic Community of West African States. |
Under the agreement brokered by the leaders, the R.S.P. was supposed to return to its barracks and disarm. General Diendéré publicly apologized to the nation for the coup and urged his followers to comply, but some troops in the regiment refused. | |
The government officially disbanded the regiment on Friday. The next day, the authorities moved to seize the assets of General Diendéré and 13 other people associated with Mr. Compaoré, including Djibril Bassolé, a former foreign minister who was arrested on Tuesday. | |
General Diendéré told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday that he was away from the barracks in “a safe place,” but would not say where. The news agency said he was thought to have taken refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic compound here. |