Power struggle in Burkina Faso after Blaise Compaoré resigns as president

Two rival military leaders declare themselves to be in charge as popular uprising topples president after 27 years

Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Compaoré, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, has been swept from power after 27 years by a violent popular uprising. Compaoré announced his resignation on Friday as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in protest at plans to extend his rule. General Honoré Traoré, head of the armed forces, said he had taken charge of the west African country. But further confusion and uncertainty broke out after another military leader, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, declared himself to be president and saidTraoré's claim was "obsolete".

"I assume from today the responsibilities of head of this transition and of head of state," Zida said in his statement, read in the studio of BF1 Television and aired on radio, after apparently using his position as a commander in the president's guard to mount a challenge to Traoré. There were reports of gunfire near the presidential palace, and Zida was said to have ordered curfew measures and the closure of borders.

Zida had earlier announced Compaoré's departure in the central Place de la Nation in the capital, Ouagadougou, to cheering from a huge crowd of protesters. He later told journalists that the former president was "in a safe place" and his "safety and wellbeing are assured". Traoré's whereabouts, though, were unknown after Zida announced he was taking charge..

Like so many strongmen before him, Compaoré was forced to abandon the luxurious trappings of the presidential palace and flee for safety as his regime collapsed. A heavily armed convoy believed to be carrying the 63-year-old was seen travelling on Friday towards the southern town of Po, near the border with Ghana, according to sources. It was not clear whether he would seek asylum.

On Friday, outside army headquarters, Colonel Boureima Farta, hoisted on the shoulders of other officers, had declared: "As of today Compaoré is no longer in power."

It was a defining moment for the country's young population, many of whom were not born when Compaoré took charge in the 1987 coup in which Thomas Sankara, his former friend and one of Africa's most revered leaders, was assassinated.

Compaoré issued a statement on Friday that said: "In order to preserve the democratic gains, as well as social peace ... I declare a vacancy of power with a view to allowing a transition that should finish with free and transparent elections in a maximum period of 90 days."

The announcement, read out on state television, was a sudden change from Thursday, when Compaoré vowed to hold on to power through next year, after protesters stormed parliament and other official buildings, ransacking them and setting them on fire.

Opposition leaders said about 30 people died in Thursday's violence.. Agence France-Presse said it was able to confirm four dead and six seriously injured, based partly on reports from the capital's main hospital. For months an opposition coalition has been urging Compaoré not to seek re-election next year and what would have been his fifth term in power.

But Compaoré and his ruling party looked likely to push a bill through parliament on Thursday that would have allowed him to run again. Protesters overran the parliament, the vote was suspended and the military announced the legislature had been dissolved and a transition government would be formed. Compaoré said he would lead the government until new elections next year.

Demonstrators rejected that plan and gathered again on Friday, demanding he step down immediately.

Witnesses said people remained on the streets in significant numbers and looting of houses and shops continued.

Some could be seen on motorbikes carrying bags of rice, furniture, mattresses and other items. Analysts said Compaoré was never in a position to resist like Bashar al-Assad in Syria and had little choice but to give up.

"When we saw the mobilisation of the people of Ouagadougou and the pressure from the opposition calling for him to resign, it was inevitable that he was no longer in a position to run the country," said William Assanvo, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Dakar, Senegal.

"We saw the army was not keen on fighting for him. He was quite alone apart from the presidential guard. The army was not behind him and there was no will for an escalation of violence with the protesters."

- TheGuardian