Rival military leaders have laid claim to power in Burkina Faso following the ousting of the west African nation’s president who fled after days of violent unrest over plans to extend his 27-year rule.
Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, declared himself head of state, dismissing as “obsolete” an earlier such bid by the army chief General Honoré Traoré, a close ally of ousted president Blaise Compaoré.
Compaoré fled the country and arrived in Yamoussoukro, the capital of neighbouring Ivory Coast, on Saturday.
Compaoré’s resignation amid violent street protests this week was an “insurrection”, Zida claimed.
“This is not a coup d’etat but a popular uprising,” he said, after making his radio address. “The people have hopes and expectations, and we believe we have understood them.”
He said that the country’s borders had been closed, a transitional committee set up and the constitution suspended.
Zida’s claim, which came after reports of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace early on Saturday, followed a statement on Friday by Traoré in which he said he would assume the presidency until elections were held.
It was unclear whether Traoré had accepted Zida’s move.
Zida called on the international community including the African Union to “support our people during this difficult ordeal”.
Burkina Faso hosts French special forces and has been an important ally of both France and the US in the fight against Islamist militants in west Africa.
The US called on the army to follow “the constitutionally mandated process for the transfer of power and holding of democratic elections”.
State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “We condemn any attempts by the military or other parties to take advantage of the situation for unconstitutional gain and call on all parties to respect the people’s support for the democratic process.”
The power struggle follows days of violent demonstrations on the streets of Ouagadougou against Compaoré’s rule after he sought to push a bill through parliament that would have allowed him to seek a fifth term in power. The protests have been closely watched across the continent where other veteran leaders are also seeking to stay in power.
Calm returned to the streets of the capital on Saturday, with shops reopening and calls by organisations behind the demonstrations for supporters to clean up the streets. The parliament building had been set ablaze during the protests.
Compaoré seized power in 1987 and later refashioned himself as a regional peace broker. Many of Burkina Faso’s young population had not been born at the time of the coup, in which his former friend Thomas Sankara was assassinated aged 37 after leading the country for four years.
