Military commanders in Burkina Faso said on Monday that the West African nation's armed forces were converging on the capital Ouagadougou to disarm the elite presidential guard, which staged a coup against the government last week.
Burkina Faso had been preparing for polls on Oct. 11 meant to restore democracy following last year's overthrow of longtime leader Blaise Compaore when the 1,200-member unit took the interim president and several cabinet ministers hostage on Wednesday.
The statement, signed by several military chiefs, said the regular armed forces were seeking the surrender of the presidential guard, known as the RSP, "without bloodshed".
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Coup leader General Gilbert Diendere, Compaore's former spy chief and right-hand man, reacted in a statement, warning against what he said was the risk of "chaos, civil war, and massive human rights violations".
In the statement, distributed to journalists ahead of its broadcast on state-owned television, he said he would free Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida as a sign of goodwill to regional mediators.
Witnesses in the towns of Dedougou, Fada N'Gourma, Kaya, Ouahigouya, Koudougou and the second-largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, saw soldiers on Monday afternoon heading in the direction of Ouagadougou aboard tanks, trucks and pick-ups, surrounded by cheering crowds.
"I saw the second column leave Bobo-Dioulasso. People came out to accompany the soldiers to the edge of town. I've never seen anything like it," said resident Moussa Traore.
This story was sourced from www.reuters.com
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