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Haiti: Beleaguered PM Ariel Henry sacks justice minister

10h ago

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has sacked his justice minister, one day after sacking the chief prosecutor. Henry has been accused of having connections to the killing of President Jovenel Moise.

Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry dismissed Justice Minister Rockfeller Vincent on Wednesday, just a day after firing the public prosecutor who was seeking charges against Henry over a possible connection to the killing of President Jovenel Moise in July.

Another top official stepped down on Wednesday citing the allegations against the prime minister. Renald Luberice, secretary-general of Haiti's Council of Members, said he would not continue under the direction of someone who "does not intend to cooperate with justice, seeking, on the contrary, by all means, to obstruct it."

The recently fired Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude asked Henry to explain why he had had two phone conversations with a key suspect in Moise's murder just hours after the incident.

[...] 

Senate President Joseph Lambert made a second attempt to claim the presidency on Tuesday, calling on the media to report on his swearing-in at parliament. The proceedings were interrupted, however, by gunfire.

Henry is attempting to bring together different groups into a broad consensus so that he can govern.

https://m.dw.com/en/haiti-beleaguered-pm-ariel-henry-sacks-justice-minister/a-59196024

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Date 18.09.2021

Guinea: Junta leaders deny exile to deposed president

Junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya said Conakry would not surrender deposed President Alpha Conde. Regional leaders have put pressure and sanctions on the junta members.

After a meeting with regional leaders Friday, Guinean junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya dismissed the idea of letting deposed President Alpha Conde leave the country.

The Guinean junta, which overthrew Conde on September 5, said it will not cave to demands from regional mediators. It also dismissed chatter that West African leaders had negotiated a way for Conde to leave Guinea.

On state television, the junta's statement read in part, "The former president is and remains in Guinea. We will not yield to any pressure."

ECOWAS responds

Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, currently the chair of the regional bloc ECOWAS, and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara visited Doumbouya on Friday.  Ouattara had hoped to leave with Conde, according to Reuters news agency.

Ouattara told Radio-Television Guineenne (RTG) at the Conakry airport: "I met my brother Alpha Conde, who is doing well. We will remain in contact."

Thursday, ECOWAS slapped targeted sanctions on the Guinean junta leaders ranging from travel restrictions to the freezing of bank accounts for the leadership and their families.

The sanctions are in response to the junta's decision not to free Conde.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/guinea-junta-leaders-deny-exile-to-deposed-president/a-59221178

Posted

Sometimes I wonder what is the major malfunction of these people....

I guess they did not have defence agreement with French. Whatever your opinion of France is, they deal with this shite pretty well. Way better than any other colonies of other countries. (Though Brits did burn down White house in 1812, but that probably won't count...) :D

Posted

[OJ Simpson]I'm gonna find the real killers![/OJ Simpson]

Quote

Date 26.09.2021

Haiti PM vows to seek justice for president's assassination

Ariel Henry said he would bring president Jovenel Moise's assassins to justice. The interim PM has been accused of being involved in the killing.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in an address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, vowed to find those responsible for the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

The highly anticipated speech comes amid reports that could implicate the prime minister himself in the murder.

"I want to reaffirm here, at this platform, my determination to do everything to find the collaborators, accomplices, and sponsors of this odious crime," he said in a prerecorded video message.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing, no political maneuver, no media campaign, no distraction, could deter me from this objective: rendering justice for President Moise," he said, in his only allusion to the allegations against him personally.

What is the PM accused of?

Henry's address comes days after he fired his chief investigator and prosecutor, who had asked a judge to charge the prime minister in connection with the assassination.

Port-au-Prince prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude also asked that Henry be barred from leaving the country.

According to the prosecutor's report, Henry had communicated with a key suspect in Moise's killing on the night of the assassination.

"The judicial inquest is going difficultly," Henry said on Saturday. "It's a transnational crime. And, for that, we formally solicit mutual legal assistance. It is a priority of my government for the entire nation."

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/haiti-pm-vows-to-seek-justice-for-presidents-assassination/a-59312271

Posted
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Date 29.09.2021

Tunisia: Najla Bouden Romdhane named first female PM

Two months after firing her predecessor and suspending parliament, President Saied tapped the engineering researcher to form a government.

Two months after seizing power, Tunisia's President Kais Saied named Najla Bouden Romdhane as his prime minister, making her the first woman in the country's history to hold that office.

"The President of the Republic, Kais Saied, charged Najla Bouden with forming a government as quickly as possible," read a statement from his office published on Facebook.

Not much is known about the engineering academic who used to work for the World Bank, and Saied did not provide any more details about his decision.

Democracy in doubt

Najla Bouden Romdhane is entering the top ranks of Tunisia's political scene in a moment of crisis, two months after Saied suspended parliament and dismised the then-Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi in a move described by his critics as a "coup."

Prior to the 2019 Tunisian presidential campaign, Saied was a respected constitutional law professor seen by many as an antidote to official corruption. His candidacy saw supporters from across the political spectrum, including both Islamists and leftists.

However, since coming to power, he has been criticized for police brutality and poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the country's economic crisis, from which many parallels have been drawn to the financial woes that sparked the country's 2011 revolution. 

In January, a wave of protests against Saied's administration began in the capital Tunis, leading to violent crackdowns and the suspension of parliament on July 25. Last week, he announced his intention to rule by decree.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/tunisia-najla-bouden-romdhane-named-first-female-pm/a-59352560

Posted
5 hours ago, Harold Jones said:

Don't have anything constructive to say, but wanted to add how disappointed I am that the first reply was not Ca Choo

'Ca Choo'?

Posted
32 minutes ago, NickM said:

'Ca Choo'?

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids
Coo coo ca choo Mrs Robinson
--Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"

Posted
13 hours ago, Harold Jones said:

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids
Coo coo ca choo Mrs Robinson
--Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"

And I was thinking of 'I am the walrus' but it didn't quite fit.

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
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Possible coup underway in Sudan with government ministers arrested by military group

2h ago

Military forces have arrested most cabinet ministers and pro-government party leaders. Sudan's main pro-democratic political group called on people to take to the streets against a "coup."

Most of Sudan's cabinet ministers and pro-government party leaders have been arrested, government sources said early Monday.

"Civilian members of the transitional sovereign council and a number of ministers from the transitional government have been detained by joint military forces," said a statement by the information ministry.

Armed forces took Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to an undisclosed location, after initial reports of him being put under house arrest. "After he refused to be a part of the coup, a force from the army detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and took him to an unidentified location," the Sudanese information ministry said. The ministry added Hamdok was calling upon the Sudanese people to resist the coup and "defend their revolution."

Airport cordoned, internet services disrupted

The Sudanese Professionals' Association, the country's main pro-democratic political group, called on people to demonstrate in the streets and counter an apparent military coup. 

"We urge the masses to go out on the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labor strike," said the group in a Facebook post. 

The Sudanese Communist party said this was a "full military coup'' orchestrated by the Sovereign Council's head General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and called on workers to go on strike. 

Local media reports said the Khartoum International Airport had been cordoned off by military forces. Al Arabiya reported that major airlines had suspended flights to Khartoum.

Sources said internet services had been disrupted across capital city Khartoum. NetBlocks, a group which tracks disruptions across the internet, said it had seen a "significant disruption" to both fixed-line and mobile internet connections across Sudan with multiple providers early Monday.

Last month, Sudan saw a failed military coup attempt. 

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/possible-coup-underway-in-sudan-with-government-ministers-arrested-by-military-group/a-59604684

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Sudan coup: Ousted PM Hamdok returns home, officials say

9h ago

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has returned home after being detained by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan. Meanwhile, Germany has expressed its support for the civilian government.

Sudan's ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok returned to his home with his wife on Tuesday evening, several sources told news agencies.

A military official told The Associated Press that Hamdok's house in the upscale Kafouri neighborhood of Khartoum was under "heavy security."

Earlier in the day, Sudan's top general, Abdel-Fattah Burhan, had said he was keeping Hamdok at "my home" for the prime minister's own protection.

"Yes, we arrested ministers and politicians, but not all" of them, Burhan said, adding that Hamdok was "in good health" and would "return home when the crisis is over."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later spoke with Hamdok. He welcomed the prime minister's release, but reiterated calls for the release of all detained civilian leaders, the State Department said.

PM office speaks out

Hamdok's office said that the prime minister had been detained as part of the military operation, along with several others.

The office responded to Hamdok's detention in a statement from the Information Ministry, which appealed for the "liberation of everyone" arrested on Monday.

This included Hamdok's wife, several of his ministers and civilian members of the council that had been in charge of the country's transition to full civilian rule.

The office said that Hamdok is still "the executive authority recognized by the Sudanese people and the world."

[...] 

Coup necessary to avoid civil war, says Burhan

General Burhan stood by the army's decision to carry out the coup, saying it was required to avoid civil unrest.

"The whole country was suspended due to political rivalries," he said at a televised news conference on Tuesday.

"The experience during the past two years has proven that the participation of political forces in the transitional period is flawed and stirs up strife."

Ambassadors defect

Meanwhile, three Sudanese ambassadors in Europe have declared their defection and condemned the military coup in their country.

"We completely align ourselves with the heroic opposition [to the coup] followed by the entire world," said the ambassadors to France, Belgium and Switzerland, declaring their missions as "embassies of the Sudanese people and their revolution."

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/sudan-coup-ousted-pm-hamdok-returns-home-officials-say/a-59629007

Posted

I am wondering how many coups there have been in Africa (many), but how many have actually been beneficial by hindsight?

Or anywhere in the world?

Posted

Beneficial to whom? I'm sure that many have been beneficial to those who gained power, or to the dodgy corporate/national interests who helped them along.

(Not that I'm walking away, with my hands in my pockets, whistling nonchalantly, after all HMG would never be involved in such a thing..)

Posted
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Sudan anti-coup groups prepare for civil disobedience

5h ago

Civil society groups in Sudan have called for a two-day strike and rejected internationally backed efforts for talks with the military over a power-sharing arrangement.

Sudan's pro-democracy movement has announced a two-day nationwide civil disobedience campaign starting Sunday. 

The call for strikes came as efforts to resolve the political crisis in the African nation after the October 25 military coup reached a standstill. 

The Sudanese Professionals' Association, the union which led the 2019 uprising against longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, called on protesters to man barricades from Saturday night to prepare for the strikes. 

Talks hit 'semi-deadlock'

Since the coup, international organizations and mediators have sought to find ways out of the crisis through negotiations. 

Anti-coup protesters have rejected internationally backed efforts to return to a power-sharing arrangement with the military. "No negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy," they said on social media, calling for "complete civil disobedience" on Sunday and Monday.

The Sudanese Professionals' Association said late Friday that mediation efforts that "seek a new settlement'' between the military and civilian leaders would "reproduce and worsen'' the country's crisis.

Reuters news agency reported on Saturday that the military has also refused a return to democratic transition, causing a "semi-deadlock."

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/sudan-anti-coup-groups-prepare-for-civil-disobedience/a-59742247

  • 2 weeks later...
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Sudan military to reinstate ousted PM Hamdok, says Umma Party head

3h ago

Abdalla Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats and all political detainees will be released under the agreement between the military and civilian political parties.

Sudan's military plans to reinstate ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok following an agreement reached between the military and civilian political parties, Fadlallah Burma Nasir, the head of the Umma Party, said on Sunday.

As part of the deal, Hamdok will form an independent cabinet of technocrats and all political detainees will be released, he added.

A group of mediators, including academics, journalists and politicians, had been attempting to reach a deal since the outbreak of the political crisis. It was finally reached late on Saturday, nearly a month after General Abdel-Fattah Burhan took down the transitional government led by Prime Minister Hamdok and detained its leaders. The general had previously deposed autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

What does the deal include?

Under the agreement, all detainees will be released and Hamdok's position as prime minister will be restored. It will also allow for the resumption of the constitutional, legal and political consensus that governs the transitional period.

The deal was reached after weeks of talks that included political factions, former rebel groups as well as military figures. 

Burhan has referred to the military takeover as a step "to rectify the transition" and not "a coup." However, he did announce a new ruling council earlier this month, in which he retained his position as the leader. The council also included a paramilitary commander, three senior military figures, three ex-rebel leaders and one civilian.

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/sudan-military-to-reinstate-ousted-pm-hamdok-says-umma-party-head/a-59893132

  • 2 months later...
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Burkina Faso military claims to have taken power

3h ago

Burkina Faso's military announced on state TV that it had taken control of the country after detaining President Roch Kabore.

A group of soldiers in Burkina Faso said on Monday that they had ousted President Roch Kabore, suspended the constitution, closed the borders and dissolved the parliament.

The announcement came hours after soldiers detained Kabore in his residence.

A soldier read the statement aloud, which was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, on live television. Earlier reports had said that soldiers had surrounded the building of the state-run broadcaster RTB and were planning to air a message.

A captain, who said he represented the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration, said this group would work on a timetable for holding new elections that was "acceptable to everyone."

A military junta also runs neighboring Mali after a pair of coups in late 2020.

What is happening in Burkina Faso?

The West African country was plunged into turmoil after a group of soldiers launched a mutiny at a barracks in the capital Ouagadougou on Sunday. They then detained Kabore at his house on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the president called on "those who have taken up arms to abandon them" in a tweet.

"What appeared to be a simple mutiny launched by some elements in the army on 23 January is evolving, hour by hour, into a military coup against our hard-fought democracy," his party, the People's Movement for Progress (MPP) said in a statement.

Kabore's party also said the president had survived an "aborted assassination attempt." 

The military did not say where they were holding Kabore, but said the seizure of power had been carried out "without any physical violence against those arrested, who are being held in a safe place, with respect for their dignity.'

[...]

https://m.dw.com/en/burkina-faso-military-claims-to-have-taken-power/a-60541431

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
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Guinea-Bissau: Coup attempt fails after gunfire in capital

6h ago

Guinea-Bissau's president said the situation is now under control after gunmen launched an assault on a government palace in the capital. The West African bloc ECOWAS has condemned the attack, along with the UN.

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said stability was restored on Tuesday, after a suspected coup attempt in the country's capital, Bissau.

The remarks came after heavy gunfire was heard for several hours in the capital. The attack also comes on the heels of a spate of coups in the region in Burkina Faso, Mali and other African nations.

What did the president say?

Embalo told the media that officials were taking part in a meeting at a government palace, when assailants with AK-47 rifles launched an attack on the building. 

The president said the situation is now "under control" after an "attack on democracy." He said "many" members of the security forces were killed in the nearly five hour assault. 

"Our republican defense and security forces were able to stop this evil," Embalo said.

He said the attack "has to also do with our fight against narco trafficking" though it's unclear who is exactly behind the assault.

Regional groups swiftly condemned the violence, giving credence to fears that an armed group had attempted to take over the West African nation once more.

People were seen fleeing the area on the edge of Bissau, near the airport. Local markets were closed and banks shut their doors, while military vehicles laden with troops drove through the streets.

Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coup d'etats and more than a dozen attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

The country's state broadcaster reported earlier that the shooting had damaged the building and that "invaders'' were holding officials hostage.

[...]

https://m.dw.com/en/guinea-bissau-coup-attempt-fails-after-gunfire-in-capital/a-60628284

Posted
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Date 03.02.2022

Author Antonio Cascais

Guinea-Bissau: Are drug cartels behind the attempted coup?

It is still unclear who is behind the attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau. President Embalo claims that the coup plotters wanted to end his fight against drug trafficking. But what about the role of the political elite?

"It was a cold-blooded attack. And the perpetrators were certainly not members of our armed forces. They rather were people from the underworld, who wanted to prevent my fight against international drug trafficking.”

Those were the words of Guinea-Bissau's president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, speaking to an assembled press corps on Tuesday night. Just hours before, a bloody shootout had taken place at the government buildings, followed by an hourslong siege at the complex that houses not only the official residence of the head of government, but also all of the country's ministries.  

Unknown individuals also fired projectiles, allegedly with bazookas. 11 security personnel were killed — all of them members of the presidential guard.  

Embalo — himself a former general — appeared cool and determined throughout his speech.

"The perpetrators were certainly killers finances by the drug mafia," he repeated on multiple occasions — despite insisting that he did not want to jump to any conclusions in the ongoing investigation.

Above all, he stressed that the government had been able to repel the attack and that the situation was under his control.  

Doubts raised about president's version of events

Epifania Fernandes, a journalist for the independent newspaper O Democrata, was a witness to the attack. She had gone to the government palace on Tuesday morning to report on a cabinet meeting when she suddenly heard bazooka shells.

"Inside the government building, everyone panicked," she told DW. "Then we heard a lot of pistol shots. I ran from hall to hall, ministry to ministry, and finally hid in a toilet. Only after more than five hours, at 5 p.m. in the afternoon, could I feel reassured that it all was over and that we could leave the government building. We were all in a state of shock." 

Fernandes went on to describe the perpetrators she saw: "Whether it was hit men paid by the drug lords or soldiers, I cannot say with certainty. However, I saw several armed people in civilian clothes who were not recognizable — at least externally — as soldiers.”

Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the largest opposition party in Guinea-Bissau, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cabo Verde (PAIGC), told DW that it wouldn't be "advisable" to go along with the president's simplistic explanation.

"[Embalo] is presenting himself as a fighter against the drug mafia in order to lull the international community into complacency," Pereira said. "But the citizens of Guinea-Bissau want to know what is really behind this alleged coup attempt. Who were the people who carried out this coup? How many were there? Who was in command of them? What were their real goals?"  

The president has so far failed to provide answers to any of these questions, Pereira said, adding that some observers are openly speculating that Embalo himself may have staged the coup.

"Such a coup would be an ideal pretext to intensify his purge of internal critics and opposition figures," Pereira said.

In the hands of drug cartels 

There is currently no evidence to support the theory that the drug mafia commissioned the attack. However, this theory cannot be dismissed altogether either: Guinea-Bissau is considered an important hub for drug trafficking — especially for cocaine.

Since achieving independence from Portugal in 1974, the West African country has experienced nine coups and attempted coups, as well as several political assassinations. Some of these have actually been attributed to drug cartels, which have had a firm grip on the country since 2005.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Guinea-Bissau is now one of the most important gateways for cocaine coming from South America to Europe.

"Organized crime will do whatever it wants in Guinea-Bissau," Calvario Ahukharie, the former head of Interpol in Guinea-Bissau, told DW. He said the fight against the cartels was practically impossible to win, as many capos are rumored to be in cahoots with military officials and politicians.

"The drug lords from South America go in and out of our country whenever and however they please," Ahukharie said. "They subjugate the politicians. They are the real rulers in our country."

A gateway to the drug trade

Ahukharie said large quantities of drugs were casually smuggled into the country on large ships, inside packages weighing up to 200 kilograms (450 pounds). The government in Guinea-Bissau, he says, will likely leave this drug mafia alone and let them reign as they please.

In return, the political elites will be paid off — with money or even with drugs.

"The drug lords feel right at home in Guinea-Bissau, like they are in paradise," Ahukharie said. 

Guinea-Bissau began its transformation into a narco-state in 2005, when longtime president Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira — who had ruled the country with an iron fist from 1980 to 1999 — was reelected after returning from six years of exile in Portugal. 

Vieira allowed the Colombian drug mafia to seize the country. Guinea-Bissau's numerous islands, which were virtually uncontrolled by the state, were used as a station to bring in cocaine from South America en route to Europe.

The drug lords had nothing to fear from Vieira, Ahukharie said:"On the contrary, Vieira paved the way for the drug cartels to have free reign, and in return he received a share of their profits."

But, soon, Vieira came into conflict with rivals in his own military. In March 2009, he was assassinated by his own soldiers.

Military in cahoots with cartels

After Vieira's death, the drug smuggling business continued to thrive in Guinea-Bissau: In April 2013, navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was lured into an intelligence trap set by agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency, who arrested him on the high seas in international waters, making his extradition merely a formality.

Bubo Na Tchuto provided US authorities with important information and names of key players in the trade. He was consequently released from prison soon after his court conviction, so that he could return to Guinea-Bissau.  

Observers are certain that pockets of Guinea-Bissau's army are still involved in drug trafficking. But some of the senior military officials in Guinea-Bissau have reportedly become more cautious, trying to fall under the radar. 

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/guinea-bissau-drug-cartels-behind-attempted-coup/a-60651513

  • 7 months later...
Posted

Not sure if we're at a counter-coup or counter-counter-coup at this point.

Quote

Date 02.10.2022

Burkina Faso junta chief urges coup leaders to 'come to their senses'

Burkina Faso's junta leader Damiba — whom military officers claim to have ousted — urged coup plotters to avoid a "fratricidal war." Damiba himself came to power in a coup less than a year ago.

Burkina Faso's junta leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba has called on junior officers to "come to their senses" after they claimed to have toppled him in a reported coup a day earlier.

On Friday, the officers said they had ousted Damiba —  who had himself come to power through a military coup in January — accusing him of failing to crack down on jihadi attacks.

The soldiers introduced Captain Ibrahim Traore as the West African country's new strongman.

Damiba made his first statement since the putsch on Saturday, urging his rivals to avoid a "fratricidal war."

"I call on Captain Traore and company to come to their senses to avoid a fratricidal war which Burkina Faso does not need," he said in the statement posted on the official Facebook page of the presidency.

Tear gas fired from French Embassy

Amid unconfirmed reports accusing Damiba of staging a counteroffensive from a French base, hundreds of Traroe's supporters came together in protest in front of the French Embassy.

Security forces at the embassy fired tear gas at dozens of protesters on Sunday, the AFP news agency reported from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. 

"They led a counteroffensive this morning. Some of the special forces were sent ... and also the air base has been manipulated," Traore told radio station Omega.

Damiba "is believed to have taken refuge in the French base at Kamboinsin in order to plan a counteroffensive to stir up trouble in our defense and security forces," the junior officers said in a statement read out on national television and signed by Traore.

France was the colonial power in Burkina Faso.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the base had never hosted Damiba and denounced the violence against its embassy.

Damiba also denied he was at the base in his remarks on the presidency's official Facebook page, calling the claim an attempt "to manipulate opinion."

Anti-French demonstrators also stoned the French Cultural Center in the town of Bobo-Dioulasso on Saturday.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/burkina-faso-junta-chief-urges-coup-leaders-to-come-to-their-senses/a-63310781

Posted
Quote

Date 02.10.2022

Burkina Faso junta leader agrees to quit after mutiny

Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba offered his resignation, two days after junior military officers rebelled against his rule. The West African country is experiencing a coup within a coup after January's military takeover.

Burkina Faso's junta leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba has agreed to step down, religious leaders said Sunday, after a mutiny within the military left the West African nation in chaos.

On Friday, several officers went on state television to announce they had ousted Damiba, who himself had led a putsch in January that overthrew the country's democratically elected president.

The soldiers accused him of failing to crack down on attacks that left more than 40% of the country under the control of Islamic extremist groups.

What's the latest?

Damiba's resignation was later confirmed by state television, which said that Captain Ibrahim Traore had been officially named head of state.

Religious leaders who helped negotiate a solution said the junta leader had given seven conditions.

These included a guarantee of security for his allies in the military and "a guarantee of his security and rights."

He also demanded that those taking power respect the pledge he had given to West Africa's regional bloc for a return to civilian rule within two years.

Just a day earlier, Damiba said he had no intention of giving up power and urged the mutinous leaders to "come to their senses" to avoid violence.

Damiba could not be reached for comment. A close family member told Reuters he left the country on Sunday.

Ouagadougou was mostly calm on Sunday after sporadic gunfire across the capital throughout Saturday between opposing army factions.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/burkina-faso-junta-leader-agrees-to-quit-after-mutiny/a-63310781

  • 6 months later...
Posted
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Sudan clashes leave dozens dead — updates

Published 8 hours ago last updated 1 hour ago

A battle for control between rival forces in Sudan has turned deadly and sparked international alarm. Hundreds have been wounded in the fighting between the military and a paramilitary force. DW has the latest.

At least 56 people have been killed as Sudan's armed forces (SAF) battled the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the country, according to the Sudanese Doctors' Union. 

The doctor's syndicate also said some 600 people were wounded in the fighting that broke out on Saturday.

Fighting continued well into the night in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country after months of tensions erupted between two rival military leaders.

The sound of heavy firing could be heard as the military urged people to remain inside their homes. Schools, banks and government offices would be closed on Sunday. 

Both sides claim they control key airports and other installations.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to the military leader Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, calling for an immediate end to violence and a return to dialogue.

Burhan overthrew long-term ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Eighteen months later, the military and the RSF staged a second coup, upending a transition to democracy.

Disagreements between Burhan and Dagalo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army have now turned into open conflict.

The armed forces, on its Facebook page, declared Dagalo a "wanted criminal" and the RSF a "rebel militia," saying there "will be no negotiations or talks until the dissolution" of the group.

In an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, Dagalo accused Burhan of starting the battle by surrounding RSF troops. "This criminal, he forced this battle upon us," he said.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/sudan-clashes-leave-dozens-dead-updates/a-65336031

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