Burkina junta leader agrees to resign after coup confusion

Burkina Faso's junta leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba agreed to step down Sunday, religious and community leaders said, two days after military officers announced his removal from power, sparking unrest in the West African country and international condemnation.

Damiba "himself offered his resignation in order to avoid confrontations with serious human and material consequences", the religious and community leaders said in a statement.

It followed mediation between the junta chief and the new self-proclaimed leader, Ibrahim Traore, by the religious and community leaders, they added.

They also said that Damiba had set "seven conditions" for stepping down.

These included a guarantee of security for his allies in the military, "a guarantee of his security and rights" and that those taking power must respect the pledge he had given to West Africa's regional bloc for a return to civilian rule within two years.

The religious and community leaders -- who are very influential in Burkina Faso -- said that Traore accepted the conditions and "invites the population to exercise calm, restraint and prayer".

The upheaval began on Friday when junior military officers announced they had toppled Damiba in the second change of leadership to hit the impoverished, restive nation this year.

Damiba -- who led a coup in January -- had said late Saturday he had no intention of giving up power and urged the officers to "come to their senses".

The French foreign ministry condemned the violence against its embassy. By - (AFP)

Tension has been high in the country where security forces fired tear gas to disperse angry protesters outside the French embassy in the capital Ouagadougou earlier Sunday.

A statement issued on Sunday by the pro-Traore military said he would remain in charge "until the swearing-in of the president of Burkina Faso designated by the nation's active forces", at an unspecified date.

'Disinformation campaign'

The officers had accused Damiba of having hidden at a military base of former colonial power France to plot a "counteroffensive", charges he and France denied.

On Sunday, dozens of Traore's supporters gathered at the French embassy in Ouagadougou.

Security forces fired tear gas from inside the compound to disperse the protesters after they set fire to barriers outside and lobbed rocks at the structure, with some trying to scale the fence, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

The French foreign ministry condemned "the violence against our embassy in the strongest terms" by "hostile demonstrators manipulated by a disinformation campaign against us".

Protesters set fire to barriers outside and lobbed rocks at the structure, with some trying to scale the fence. By AFPTV teams, Idrissa OUEDRAOGO (AFP)

It marked the latest incident against a France-linked building in two days, after a fire at the embassy on Saturday and a blaze in front of the French Institute in the western city of Bobo-Dioulasso.

A French institute in the capital also sustained major damage, the French foreign ministry said.

The officers said they had acted because Damiba had failed to quell jihadist attacks in the country.

Damiba came to power in the nation of 16 million people in a January coup, accusing elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore of failing to beat back jihadist fighters.

But the insurgency has raged on and more than 40 percent of Burkina Faso remains outside government control.

Thousands have died and about two million have been displaced by the fighting since 2015, when the insurgency spread to Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali.

'Burkina Faso needs peace'

The events Friday sparked a wave of international criticism, including from the United States, the African Union, the European Union and the regional grouping ECOWAS.

Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, pictured in March 2022. By OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT (AFP/File)

"Burkina Faso needs peace, stability and unity to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country," said a statement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Jihadist violence has prompted a series of coups in Mali since 2020 and fuelled instability in neighbouring Niger.

The new self-proclaimed Burkina leaders had said they were willing "to go to other partners ready to help in the fight against terrorism".

No country was explicitly mentioned but Russia, whose influence is growing in French-speaking Africa including Mali and the Central African Republic, is among the possible partners in question.

A few hours before events unfolded on Friday, hundreds of people had rallied in the capital seeking Damiba's departure, the end of France's military presence in the Sahel and military cooperation with Russia.

France has a contingent of military special forces based in Kamboinsin, which is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Ouagadougou.