Burkina Faso was suspended after the coup by the Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the end of a virtual summit of the organization, which has not yet decided on other sanctions.
ECOWAS, which has called for the release of the overthrown president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, placed under house arrest, as well as other arrested officials, will hold a new summit on February 3 in Accra, this time in the presence of the heads of state of the region, according to this source speaking on condition of anonymity.
The virtual summit, which lasted about three hours, also decided to send a mission of the chiefs of staff of armies to Ouagadougou on Saturday, to be followed on Monday by a ministerial mission.
On Thursday evening, in his first speech since taking power on Monday, Burkina’s new strongman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, said on national television that his country “needs its partners more than ever.
Saying he understood the “legitimate doubts” raised by the coup, he assured that Burkina “will continue to respect its international commitments, particularly with regard to respect for human rights”, specifying that the independence of the judiciary would also be “assured”.
Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba also pledged “to return to normal constitutional life”, “when the conditions are met”, without specifying an agenda.