Burkina Faso coup: PM released from custody
PM Isaac Zida was released after being detained last Wednesday, along with the country's president and a number of cabinet ministers, by members of the presidential guard
(File photo) At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in protests sparked by the coup
Burkina Faso coup leaders have released the country's prime minister, Isaac Zida, from custody, according to news reports.
The prime minister was detained alongside the country's president and unknown number of cabinet ministers last Wednesday by presidential guard soldiers who then installed General Gilbert Diendere, a close ally of deposed long-term president Blaise Compaore, as leader of the west African country.
The release of Zida, on Tuesday, comes hours after army soldiers entered the capital Ouagadougou without resistance after coup leader General Gilbert Diendere said he would hand over power to a civilian transitional government.
Army leaders also began surrender talks late on Monday with the elite presidential guard that staged the coup.
"All units [of the army mobilised on Monday to march on the capital] reached Ouagadougou" overnight, Colonel Serge Alain Ouedraogo, deputy head of the Burkinabe police, told the AFP news agency.
"We must now secure the surrender of the [coup leaders] without gunfire or bloodshed," he said.
At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in protests sparked by the coup, which came just weeks before what would have been the first elections since Blaise Compaore was ousted in a popular revolt last October after trying to extend his 27-year grip on power.
