Coup leaders offer olive branch as protests mount

September 19, 2015 7:27 AM

But they had to shoot in the air to disperse hundreds of people who threw stones, burned tyres and blocked streets in the capital, demanding the return of the interim government.

An anti-coup protester holds a Burkinabe flag in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, September 18, 2015. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Leaders of a coup in Burkina Faso said on Friday they had freed the president and reopened borders, in an apparent olive branch as they faced a growing confrontation with crowds of protesters demanding they end their rebellion.

Soldiers loyal to coup leader General Gilbert Diendere still appeared to be in control of key sites in the capital such as the main square and the presidential palace.

The junta also came under growing diplomatic pressure to step back as the presidents of Benin and Senegal flew in to mediate and the African Union suspended Burkina Faso's membership of the bloc and warned of sanctions.

Soldiers from Diendere's elite presidential guard (RSP) burst into a cabinet meeting and arrested interim President Michel Kafando and ministers on Wednesday, derailing a delicate political transition in the West African nation.

Kafando had stepped in as an interim leader after the last president, Blaise Compaore, was driven from power last year. The country was less than a month away from Oct. 11 elections meant to restore democracy.

The power grab has triggered a wave of condemnations from the United States, former colonial power France and the United Nations, which demanded the restoration of the election schedule.