by Our Foreign Desk

SOLDIERS from all over Burkina Faso poured into the capital Ouagadougou yesterday as the military vowed to disarm the mutinous presidential guard behind last week’s coup.

Cheering crowds greeted military units en route to the capital.

Meanwhile, the junta met a key international demand by releasing interim prime minister Lieutenant Colonel Yacouba Isaac Zida who had been detained along with the interim president.

The junta was given a 10am deadline to disarm and the army said it wanted the mutinous soldiers to lay down their arms and return to barracks.

But coup leader General Gilbert Diendere defied the order.

“I call on the population of Burkina Faso to remain calm and to have confidence in the national armed forces,” army chief General Pingrenoma Zagre said.

Burkina Faso had been preparing to head to polls on October 11 for a vote aimed at restoring democracy after last year’s overthrow of Blaise Compaore when the 1,200-member unit took the interim president and several cabinet ministers hostage last Wednesday.

On Monday, the national army said it was sending soldiers from elsewhere around the country to the capital and called on members of the presidential guard to stand down.

Gen Diendere later apologised to the nation in a written communique and said he would hand over power to a civilian government once a regional peace deal was implemented.

West African regional mediators have proposed an agreement calling for interim President Michael Kafando, who has already been released, to be reinstalled until elections.