Burkina Faso held its breath Sunday for a solution to the crisis triggered by this week's coup after African mediators promised an announcement of "good news".
Though the mediators led by Senegal's Macky Sall said they would make the announcement early Sunday, talks at a hotel in the capital Ouagadougou showed no signs of wrapping up as they entered their third day.
Mediator Thomas Boni Yayi, Benin's president, had said Saturday that "all the actors" in the crisis would announce "good news", hinting at a return to power of an interim government that has been in place since the October 2014 ouster of Blaise Compaore.
"Yes, a return to the transition," Yayi said in response to a reporter's question.
Tensions came to a head Sunday when dozens of supporters of the military coup stormed the Laico hotel hosting the talks, chanting slogans and wrecking furniture.
An AFP journalist at the scene said the supporters of General Gilbert Diendere were clearly aiming to pressure the mediators, who also include the UN representative in Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
Diendere, Compaore's ex-chief of staff, had said Saturday: "I never said I wanted to hold onto power... It's now a question of how to proceed."
Sall, who is also chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had said earlier that negotiators were seeking the return of Burkina Faso's interim President Michel Kafando, who is under house arrest after being detained at the presidential palace on Wednesday.
There was no sign of what the putschists would receive in return if they hand power back to the interim government.
- October polls at stake -
Diendere's junta has claimed that Kafando was excluding Compaore's supporters from taking part in elections set for October 11.
The vote is supposed to mark the end of the transitional government installed after Compaore was toppled by a popular uprising after 27 years in power.
The Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), an elite army unit of 1,300 men loyal to Compaore, officially declared the coup on Thursday and announced Diendere as the new leader.
Arriving at the hotel before any announcement could be made, Diendere's supporters forced their way in, caused mayhem in the lobby and took off again.
"What we want is for Diendere to stay and organise elections quickly like he promised. We are killing each other in the neighbourhood and the country because of exclusion, we need inclusive elections," a Diendere supporter said on condition of anonymity.
Just before Diendere's supporters arrived, protesters from the Balai Citoyen (Civic Broom) movement that led the uprising against Compaore also gathered outside the hotel, seeking to "maintain pressure" on the talks.
- Days of unrest, clashes -
Saturday night was calm after days of protests and clashes that pitted anti-coup youths against the authorities and paralysed traffic in many parts of the country.
At least 10 people have been killed and 113 wounded in clashes sparked by Wednesday's detention of the interim president and prime minister by RSP officers, a source at Ouagadougou's main hospital told AFP.
A former French colony previously named Upper Volta, Burkina Faso has had a long history of instability since it gained independence in 1960.
In the face of global condemnation of the coup, Diendere on Friday insisted he was acting in the interests of the impoverished, landlocked west African country.
"We simply want to have proposals for elections that take place serenely and peacefully, and for results that are uncontested and uncontestable," he told the French television channel TV5 Monde.
The 54-member African Union has suspended Burkina Faso and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the junta.
Burkina Faso held its breath Sunday for a solution to the crisis triggered by this week’s coup after African mediators promised an announcement of “good news”.
Though the mediators led by Senegal’s Macky Sall said they would make the announcement early Sunday, talks at a hotel in the capital Ouagadougou showed no signs of wrapping up as they entered their third day.
Mediator Thomas Boni Yayi, Benin’s president, had said Saturday that “all the actors” in the crisis would announce “good news”, hinting at a return to power of an interim government that has been in place since the October 2014 ouster of Blaise Compaore.
“Yes, a return to the transition,” Yayi said in response to a reporter’s question.
Tensions came to a head Sunday when dozens of supporters of the military coup stormed the Laico hotel hosting the talks, chanting slogans and wrecking furniture.
An AFP journalist at the scene said the supporters of General Gilbert Diendere were clearly aiming to pressure the mediators, who also include the UN representative in Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
Diendere, Compaore’s ex-chief of staff, had said Saturday: “I never said I wanted to hold onto power… It’s now a question of how to proceed.”
Sall, who is also chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had said earlier that negotiators were seeking the return of Burkina Faso’s interim President Michel Kafando, who is under house arrest after being detained at the presidential palace on Wednesday.
There was no sign of what the putschists would receive in return if they hand power back to the interim government.
– October polls at stake –
Diendere’s junta has claimed that Kafando was excluding Compaore’s supporters from taking part in elections set for October 11.
The vote is supposed to mark the end of the transitional government installed after Compaore was toppled by a popular uprising after 27 years in power.
The Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), an elite army unit of 1,300 men loyal to Compaore, officially declared the coup on Thursday and announced Diendere as the new leader.
Arriving at the hotel before any announcement could be made, Diendere’s supporters forced their way in, caused mayhem in the lobby and took off again.
“What we want is for Diendere to stay and organise elections quickly like he promised. We are killing each other in the neighbourhood and the country because of exclusion, we need inclusive elections,” a Diendere supporter said on condition of anonymity.
Just before Diendere’s supporters arrived, protesters from the Balai Citoyen (Civic Broom) movement that led the uprising against Compaore also gathered outside the hotel, seeking to “maintain pressure” on the talks.
– Days of unrest, clashes –
Saturday night was calm after days of protests and clashes that pitted anti-coup youths against the authorities and paralysed traffic in many parts of the country.
At least 10 people have been killed and 113 wounded in clashes sparked by Wednesday’s detention of the interim president and prime minister by RSP officers, a source at Ouagadougou’s main hospital told AFP.
A former French colony previously named Upper Volta, Burkina Faso has had a long history of instability since it gained independence in 1960.
In the face of global condemnation of the coup, Diendere on Friday insisted he was acting in the interests of the impoverished, landlocked west African country.
“We simply want to have proposals for elections that take place serenely and peacefully, and for results that are uncontested and uncontestable,” he told the French television channel TV5 Monde.
The 54-member African Union has suspended Burkina Faso and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the junta.
