OUAGADOUGOU — Several dozen protestors
waving Russian flags rallied in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday
as West African delegates arrived on a fact-finding mission following the
country’s second coup in less than nine months.
اضافة اعلان
Demonstrators chanted support for Russia, called on
France to leave the country and warned
ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West
African States — against “meddling”, an AFP journalist saw.
The impoverished Sahel state was plunged into
turmoil at the weekend when Lt. Col.
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had seized
power only in January, was toppled by a newly emerged rival, 34-year-old Capt.
Ibrahim Traore.
The dramatic takeover coincided with violent
anti-French protests and the emergence of Russian flags among demonstrators,
stoking speculation that Traore may follow other regimes in French-speaking
Africa and forge close ties with Moscow at France’s expense.
The ECOWAS delegation, whose visit was initially
scheduled for Monday, arrived on Tuesday morning and was to head to the
president’s office to meet Traore, officials told AFP.
The bloc, designed to promote democracy in one of
the world’s most volatile regions, has witnessed five coups among three of its
15 members in little more than two years.
Its approach has been to urge junta leaders to set a
relatively short timetable for restoring civilian rule — and to impose
sanctions against those deemed to be ignoring the demand or sidestepping their
pledges.
But it has also taken flak, with some critics
accusing it of supporting Western, or specifically French, interests.
Traore said in a statement the ECOWAS visit was to
“make contact with the new transition authorities” as part of the support that
ECOWAS provided to Burkina Faso.
He said he had learned “with astonishment and
regret” that messages had circulated on social media “calling for this mission
to be hampered” and urged calm and restraint.
“Any person who commits acts aimed at disturbing the
smooth course of the ECOWAS mission will face the force of the law,” Traore
said.
The ECOWAS visit to Ouagadougou is headed by
Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister Suzi Carla Barbosa, whose country currently
chairs the bloc, and includes former Niger president Mahamadou Issoufou, who is
the mediator for Burkina Faso.
Landlocked and deeply poor, Burkina Faso has
experienced little political stability since gaining independence from France
in 1960.
The latest turmoil takes place against the backdrop
of a bloody terrorist insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015.
Thousands of civilians, troops, and police officers
have been killed and nearly 2 million people have fled their homes.
Swelling anger within the armed forces prompted
Damiba’s coup against the elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, on
January 24.
Appointing himself transitional head of state, Damiba vowed
to make security the country’s top priority but after a brief lull the attacks
revived, claiming hundreds of lives.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
