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Burkina Faso's ex-coup leader asks officers to surrender weapons

Xinhua, September 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

General Gilbert Diendere on Tuesday asked soldiers from the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) who carried out the recent failed coup in Burkina Faso, to surrender their weapons to authorities "in order to avert a bloodshed."

"I appeal to RSP officers to accept the disarmament process, hand over their weapons and head to barracks where they have been deployed to avoid any clashes," Diendere said on a local radio station.

Burkina Faso's army chief Gen. Pingrenoma Zagre had earlier announced that over 300 soldiers from the RSP unit, a former presidential guard which is comprised of about 1,300 officers, had surrendered and more were still handing in their weapons.

The appeal from Diendere came after the regular army had asked the population living within the zone where the former coup leaders' camp is based to stay in their homes, before they launch an assault on the camp.

The Ouagadougou international airport was closed on Tuesday until further notice. Endit