Benin leader hints at end of Burkina Faso coup

West African mediators hinted at a breakthrough in Burkina Faso's political crisis after a military coup had brought a general to power less than a month before scheduled elections.

According to Reuters news agency, Benin's president, Thomas Boni Yayi, said Burkina Faso would be returning to civilian rule and an interim government led by President Michel Kafando was to be reinstated, reversing a military coup from earlier in the week. Boni Yayi did not give further details on a potential deal, instead saying only that a "good decision" would be announced Sunday.

"We are going to relaunch the transition underway - a transition led by civilians, with Michel Kafando," Reuters reported him saying after a meeting with coup leader Gen. Gilbert Diendere in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Diendere, Senegal's president, Macky Sall, and Yayi Boni had "shut themselves in Sall's suite for decisive discussions on a plan for ending the crisis," an official statement read.

Protests and clashes

Earlier Saturday, anti-coup demonstrators had burned tires at roadblocks in Ouagadougou. Northwest of the city center, smoke rose from barricades where crowds had chanted slogans denouncing Diendere.

Diendere had been named leader of Burkina Faso on Thursday after members of the elite Presidential Security Regiment had stormed a government meeting detaining the acting president and prime minister. Soldiers from the regiment fired on protests after the coup was announced. At least six people have died during the unrest.

Army chief Gen. Pingrenoma Zagre issued a statement Saturday condemning all violence against civilians and urging soldiers to act "with professionalism." He also called on civilians to "trust the armed forces" arguing that they would work to resolve the crisis.

A transition in transition

The coup had derailed a yearlong transition process that followed the fall of longtime President Blaise Compaore during a popular uprising last October. Elections were supposed to be held on October 11, but Diendere, a former top Compaore aide, had insisted that the date was too soon.

Sall, who in addition to being president of Senegal is also chairman of the regional ECOWAS body, met with allies and opponents of the Compaore regime and later met with transitional leader Michel Kafando, who was released from military custody on Friday.

The coup was condemned by former colonial power France, the United States, the United Nations and the African Union, which suspended Burkina Faso on Friday.

ss/sms (AP, Reuters)