Anti-French protesters waving Russian flags and shouting slogans against the West African ECOWAS block rallied in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday as ECOWAS delegates arrived on a fact-finding mission following the country's second military coup this year.
Brandishing Russian flags in a display of support for Moscow, the demonstrators shouted slogans criticising the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc and France, the former colonial power in Burkina Faso.
The impoverished Sahel state was plunged into turmoil on Friday, when Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had seized power only in January, was toppled by a newly emerged rival, 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Reporting from the upscale Ouaga 2000 district of the capital, where Burkina Faso's presidential palace is located, FRANCE 24's Sophie Lamotte said there were several messages on display at the demonstration.
"Initially, there were a few dozen people expressing their support for the new leader," said Lamotte. “They were quickly met with hundreds of motorcycles, with people waving Russian flags calling out, 'Enough with the ECOWAS block, enough with France' and expressing their support for Russia. It was overall quite a confusing and unclear message."
After a jittery weekend that also saw violent protests at the French embassy and culture centre following rumours – which turned out to be inaccurate – that the French were shielding Damiba, the former military ruler agreed on Sunday to step down.
The Togolese government on Monday confirmed that Damiba was in Togo after authorities accepted the ousted leader to support "peace in the sub-region".
The ECOWAS delegation was initially scheduled to arrive on Monday, but the visit was postponed to Tuesday.
Following talks in Ouagadougou on Tuesday, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said he was “satisfied” with the ECOWAS delegation meeting with Burkina Faso’s new junta leader.
Issoufou added that the bloc would continue accompanying Burkina Faso's transition to constitutional rule.
New leader calls for calm
The regional ECOWAS bloc, designed to promote democracy in one of the world's most volatile regions, has witnessed five coups among three of its 15 members in little more than two years.
Its approach has been to urge junta leaders to set a relatively short timetable for restoring civilian rule – and to impose sanctions against those deemed to be ignoring the demand or sidestepping their pledges.
But it has also taken flak, with some critics accusing it of supporting Western, or specifically French, interests.
In a statement released Tuesday, Traoré said the ECOWAS visit was to "make contact with the new transition authorities" as part of the support that ECOWAS provided to Burkina Faso.
He said he had learned "with astonishment and regret" that messages had circulated on social media "calling for this mission to be hampered" and urged calm and restraint.
"Any person who commits acts aimed at disturbing the smooth course of the ECOWAS mission will face the force of the law," Traoré said.
The ECOWAS visit to Ouagadougou is headed by Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister Suzi Carla Barbosa, whose country currently chairs the bloc, and includes former Niger president Mahamadou Issoufou, who is the mediator for Burkina Faso.
Elections promised by 2024
Landlocked and impoverished, Burkina Faso has experienced little political stability since gaining independence from France in 1960.
The latest turmoil takes place against the backdrop of a bloody jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali, where rising anti-French sentiment sparked a pullout of French troops.
In Burkina Faso, swelling anger within the armed forces prompted Damiba's coup against the elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, on January 24.
Appointing himself transitional head of state, Damiba vowed to make security the country's top priority but after a brief lull the attacks revived, claiming hundreds of lives.
Traoré on Monday told FRANCE 24's sister radio station RFI that he would stand by a pledge that Damiba gave ECOWAS for restoring civilian rule by July 2024.
He said that he would simply carry out "day-to-day business" until a new civilian or military transitional president was appointed by a national forum gathering political and social representatives.
This meeting would take place "well before the end of the year", he said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
