Agency Report
The African Union has suspended Burkina Faso from all its activities in response to last week’s military coup, effective until constitutional order is restored, the AU said on Monday.
Burkina Faso had already been suspended from the West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, though ECOWAS stopped short of imposing sanctions after the Jan. 24 coup that deposed President Roch Kabore.
An ECOWAS delegation on Monday met with Kabore and found him “in good spirits”, said Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Ghana’s foreign minister and head of the mission to Ouagadougou.
The ousted president looks well, has access to his doctors, and is allowed visits from his family, Ayorkor Botchway told journalists, without saying where the meeting took place.
Previously, no information had been disclosed about his whereabouts or condition since he was toppled.
The delegation also met with the coup leaders including the new head of state, Lt.-Col. Paul-Henri Damiba, to discuss security and the political transition, she said.
“They seemed very open to the proposals and to us that is a good sign,” said Ayorkor Botchway. “It is our position that the transition should be short, so that Burkina Faso can return quickly back to constitutional order.”
