The former president of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré left Ouagadougou after a brief stay for a meeting of former heads of state with the country's new strongman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, AFP has learned. Sunday from government and airport sources.
Blaise Compaoré "
left Ouagadougou yesterday (Saturday) evening and returned to Abidjan with his family, in particular his wife and daughter
", indicated a government source, welcoming his "
efforts for the return of peace to Burkina
".
A plane from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire "
took off from the airbase
" on Saturday evening with "
the delegation of former president
" Compaoré on board, an airport source confirmed.
Blaise Compaoré, president from 1987 to 2014, before being forced into exile in Côte d'Ivoire following a popular uprising, returned Thursday to Ouagadougou for the first time in eight years, sparking controversy in Burkina Faso.
While for his sympathizers, this return nourished real "
hopes for peace
", voices were raised to demand his arrest, in execution of his sentence in absentia, on April 6, to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara, during the coup that brought him to power in 1987.
Blaise Compaoré took part in a meeting on Friday with another former president, Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (1982-1983), and Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in a putsch on January 24.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Damiba called for "
social cohesion in view of the difficult situation
" that their country is going through, in the grip of jihadist violence.
MM.
Compaoré and Ouedraogo, for their part, published a statement in which they called "
for the overcoming of political, generational, ethnic, religious and other traditional beliefs
" to "
rebuild together the foundations of the country in a patriotic leap
".
Three former presidents, also invited, did not participate in the meeting.
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, overthrown in January, was "
physically prevented by a group of individuals from participating in the meeting
", according to Mr. Damiba.
Read alsoIn Burkina Faso, the frenetic spiral of violence
Several of his supporters demonstrated Friday morning outside his home in Ouagadougou, calling on him to boycott this "
masquerade
".
Also invited, Isaac Zida who had briefly taken power in 2014 and currently lives in exile in Canada, could not come "
for administrative reasons
", according to Mr. Damiba, and Michel Kafando (2014-2015) for "
reasons of health
”.
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