The African Union (AU) has suspended Burkina Faso a week after a faction of the army announced the removal of President Roch Kabore, as envoys from West Africa and the United Nations head for talks with the coup leaders.
The AU’s 15-member Peace and Security Council on Monday said it had voted to suspend Burkina Faso’s participation “in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country”.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, who chairs the AU’s Commission, had already condemned the coup shortly after it happened on January 23.
The AU’s move came three days after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc suspended Burkina Faso from its ranks and warned of possible sanctions pending the outcome of meetings with the coup makers, who have dissolved the government and parliament and suspended the constitution, pledging to re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”.
An ECOWAS mission headed by Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was expected to arrive in Ouagadougou on Monday, together with the UN special representative for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mahamat Saleh Annadif.
“The joint delegation will have meetings with the military leaders as well as with the various Burkinabe actors,” UNOWAS said in a statement.
On Saturday, ECOWAS sent military chiefs to confer with coup leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
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