By John Ikani
Burkina Faso’s self-declared military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore has accepted a conditional resignation offered by President Paul-Henri Damiba to avoid further violence after Friday’s coup, religious and traditional leaders said on Sunday.
Following mediation between Damiba and the new self-proclaimed leader, Ibrahim Traore, “Damiba himself offered his resignation in order to avoid confrontations with serious human and material consequences”, the religious and community leaders said in a statement.
Traore said that order was being restored after violent protests against the French embassy and days of fighting as his faction moved to topple the government
Splits have emerged within the army, with many soldiers appearing to seek Russian support as the influence of former colonial power France wanes.
At least three separate videos shared on online on Saturday and Sunday showed Burkina Faso soldiers atop armoured personnel carriers, waving Russian flags, while the crowd around chanted “Russia! Russia!”.
Traore’s team urged people to halt attacks on the French embassy, targeted by protesters after an officer said France had sheltered Damiba at a French military base in the West African country and that he was planning a counter-offensive.
Later on Saturday, Damiba rejected the allegations that he was at a French base, but provided no further details about his whereabouts.
France, the former colonial power in Burkina Faso, on Saturday denied “any involvement” in the coup or that “Burkinabe authorities have been hosted or are under the protection of the French military”.
Damiba himself came to power in a coup in January. He installed himself as leader of the country’s 16 million people after accusing elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore of failing to beat back jihadist fighters. But the insurgency has raged on.
