Burkina Faso leader says to hand power to transitional body

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Burkina Faso’s interim President Isaac Zida said on Monday that the army would cede power to a transition government headed by a consensual leader, in a bid to calm accusations that it had seized power in a military coup.

The country’s longtime president Blaise Compaore stepped down last week after two days of mass protests over his bid to extend his rule. On Saturday, the military appointed Lieutenant Colonel Zida in a move criticised by opposition politicians and Western powers seeking a return to civilian rule.

“Our understanding is that the executive powers will be led by a transitional body but within a constitutional framework that we will watch over carefully,” he told a gathering of diplomats in the capital Ouagadougou, without giving a timeframe.