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In Burkina Faso, Crowds Protest Leader’s Plan to Extend Rule In Burkina Faso, Violent Protests Against Plan to Extend Leader’s Rule
(about 1 hour later)
LONDON — The authorities sought to contain demonstrations in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Thursday as crowds surged from the Parliament building to the state television station and toward the presidential palace to protest plans to extend the 27-year rule of President Blaise Compaoré, news reports from the West African nation said. OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Demonstrators surged through the dusty streets of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Thursday, overrunning state broadcasters, setting fire to the Parliament building and torching the homes of relatives of President Blaise Compaoré in a paroxysm of protest against his plans to extend his 27 years in office.
Three motionless bodies were seen in the street near the home of Mr. Compaoré’s brother, Reuters reported, after troops there fired live rounds and used tear gas as a crowd approached. Other reports said offices at the National Assembly building had been set on fire and that one person had died. After several hours of increasingly violent protests, a government spokesman announced that a bill seeking to extend the presidential term had been dropped, or at least delayed. The statement did nothing to quell the protests.
Mr. Compaoré came to power in 1987 in a coup, one of several times the government has been overthrown in Burkina Faso, formerly called Upper Volta, gained independence from France in 1960. He subsequently won several presidential elections, the most recent in November 2010. The venting of rage was depicted by some analysts as the most serious challenge to Mr. Compaoré's grip on power since he took office.
The country has achieved a measure of stability in recent years. But its citizens have grown increasingly restive as the president’s allies have tried to persuade Parliament to scrap a constitutional limit on presidential terms, so that Mr. Compaoré could run for another term in elections next year. At the presidential palace, soldiers fired live rounds and used tear gas to repel crowds seeking to storm the building, witnesses said.
The protests could have a wide influence in other African countries whose leaders are considering measures that would extend their time in office. Gen. Honoré Nabéré, the chief of staff of Burkina Faso’s armed forces, planned to make a statement later on Thursday with a former defense minister, Gen. Kouamé Lougué, who had been seeking to calm the protests in central Ouagadougou, military officials said.
News agencies quoted the communications minister, Alain Édouard Traoré, as saying the government had abandoned, or at least postponed, the plan to extend Mr. Compaoré’s presidency. But that did not immediately appear to calm crowds seeking emblems of Mr. Compaoré’s rule as targets for their wrath. Elsewhere in the city, opposition leaders demanded the resignation of Mr. Compaoré, a former soldier who seized power in 1987 in a coup. He subsequently won several presidential elections, the most recent in November 2010.
As the rampage began on Thursday, protesters crossed police lines and broke into Parliament to try to prevent lawmakers from attending a session to approve the constitutional change. Black smoke was seen rising from the building, according to news reports. In a statement on Thursday, France, the former colonial power, which operates a special forces base in Burkina Faso, said it “deplored the violence that has taken place in and around the National Assembly” and urged calm.
Hundreds of protesters broke into the state television headquarters, looting equipment and smashing cars, Agence France-Presse reported. France regards Mr. Compaoré as a crucial regional ally in its efforts to confront Islamic militants in the broader Sahel region that have ties to Al Qaeda. Burkina Faso, formerly called Upper Volta, is home to around 3,600 French citizens.
Thursday was the third consecutive day of protests in the capital. The American Embassy herein Ouagadougou said in a statement that the United States was “deeply concerned” by the violence and urged “all parties including the security forces” to seek a peaceful outcome.
In the early years after Burkina Faso’s independence in 1960, power changed hands in a series of coups, but more recently, the country has achieved a measure of stability. Its citizens, however, have grown increasingly restive over the past few months as the president’s allies have tried to persuade Parliament to scrap a constitutional limit on presidential terms.
For three consecutive days, the capital has been rocked by protests, which could have a wide influence in other African countries whose leaders are considering measures that would extend their time in office.
Alain Édouard Traoré, the communications minister, said on Thursday that the government had shelved the plan to change the Constitution. But that did not immediately appear to calm crowds seeking emblems of Mr. Compaoré's rule as targets for their wrath.
“It is over for the regime,” demonstrators shouted after Mr. Traoré's announcement, according to The Associated Press. “We do not want him again.”
Several people were reported killed by gunfire.
Initial reports said that demonstrators had broken through police lines to take over the Parliament building and prevent lawmakers from voting on a contentious proposal to overturn a provision that limits the president to two terms.
Black smoke was seen rising from the Parliament building.
State-owned radio and television stations suspended broadcasts after demonstrators took over their headquarters, looting television equipment and setting fire to cars, news reports said.
Protesters also set fire to the homes of several of Mr. Compaoré’s relatives and advisers, and to the offices of the governing party.
Three motionless bodies were seen in the street near the home of Mr. Compaoré’s brother, Reuters reported, after troops there fired live rounds and used tear gas as a crowd approached.
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