Burkina Faso’s elite presidential guards, who recently staged a coup in the country, have signed an agreement with the army, pledging to withdraw from their positions.
The deal came about following negotiations in the city of Abuja the capital city of Nigeria late on Tuesday.
The guards, known as the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP), who are loyalists to former President Blaise Compaoré, staged the putsch last Wednesday by detaining the country’s interim leaders.
The interim leaders had been running the country since the October 2014 resignation of Compaoré, who was forced to step down following two days of mass protests against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his rule for a fifth term.
In line with the agreement, the RSP would abandon the positions it recently took up in the capital, Ouagadougou. The guards also vowed to return former Foreign Minister and current interim President Michel Kafando to power.
The deal came about following negotiations in the city of Abuja the capital city of Nigeria late on Tuesday.
The guards, known as the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP), who are loyalists to former President Blaise Compaoré, staged the putsch last Wednesday by detaining the country’s interim leaders.
The interim leaders had been running the country since the October 2014 resignation of Compaoré, who was forced to step down following two days of mass protests against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his rule for a fifth term.
In line with the agreement, the RSP would abandon the positions it recently took up in the capital, Ouagadougou. The guards also vowed to return former Foreign Minister and current interim President Michel Kafando to power.
The return of “Kafando is already a done deal. The (African) heads of state arrive tomorrow to put him back in office,” said General Gilbert Diendere, a close Compaore ally, whom the the RSP rebels had chosen as their leader.
The deal was signed a day after the army entered Ouagadougou, turning up the pressure on the RSP.
Kafando’s interim government has set October 11 for presidential and legislative elections, which would be the first in the African nation since Compaore was forced out of power.
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