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 Compaore stepped down on Friday after two days of mass protests
against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his
27-year rule. At least three people were killed after protesters
stormed the parliament building and set it on fire.
Army chief of staff General Honore Traore, a Compaore loyalist, had
quickly announced on Friday he would take over the presidency on a
transitional basis, but this was rejected by the demonstrators and a
number of junior officers.
After reports of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace early on
Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Issaac Zida, the operational commander
of the elite presidential guard, announced on radio that he was
taking power.
"I assume from today the responsibilities of head of this transition
and head of state," Zida said, dressed in military fatigues, in the
studio of BF1 television.
"I salute the memory of the martyrs of this uprising and bow to the
sacrifices made by our people."
The unfolding crisis was being closely watched by the United States
and former colonial power France, which were close military allies
of Compaore. Under his rule, Burkina Faso became a key ally in
Western operations against al Qaeda-linked groups in West Africa.
 The events will also be carefully followed by other governments in
West and Central Africa, where long-serving leaders are reaching the
end of their constitutional terms in several countries, including
Benin, Congo Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zida said the army had stepped in to avoid anarchy and ensure a
swift democratic transition. He said a roadmap to elections would be
drafted by a body drawn from different elements of society,
including political parties and civil society.
He appealed to the African Union and West African regional bloc
ECOWAS to show its support for the transition.
"This is not a coup d'etat but a popular uprising," he told Reuters
after making the statement. "The people have hopes and expectations,
and we believe we have understood them."
BORDERS, AIRPORT CLOSED
It was the seventh time that a military officer had taken over as
head of state since the country declared independence from France in
1960, when it was known as Upper Volta.
Troops loyal to Zida had deployed at strategic points across the
dusty capital Ouagadougou, enforcing a curfew from 1900 GMT to 0600
GMT. The airport and land borders had also been closed on his
orders, soldiers said.
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The whereabouts of Traore were not immediately clear but Zida said
he was in contact with other military top brass and the general's
assumption of the presidency was null and void. Traore has not been
seen in public since staking his claim to power at a news conference
shortly after Compaore's resignation.
Zida declined to disclose Compaore's whereabouts, saying only that
he was "in a safe place".
A heavily armed convoy believed to be carrying the former president
was seen traveling towards the southern town of Po near the border
with Ghana, which is home to a large military base, diplomatic
sources and domestic media said.
Despite being one of the world's poorest nations, Burkina Faso
positioned itself as a key mediator in regional crises under the
stewardship of Compaore - renowned as a skilled negotiator and a
wily, ruthless politician.
A taciturn former soldier who had survived several bids to oust him
since he seized power in a 1987 military coup, Compaore had
initially sought to defy calls for him to step down after protests
turned violent on Thursday.
But his bid to cling to power - and its lavish trappings - angered
many young people in a country that is stagnating at 183rd out of
186 countries on the U.N. human development index.
With an average age of less than 18, most of the country's 17
million population have never known another leader.
Crowds danced, cheered and blew whistles in the central Place de la
Nation in Ouagadougou after his resignation.
"This is a sub-Saharan Spring and it must continue against all the
presidents who are trying to hang on to power in Africa," said law
student Lucien Trinnou, referring to the Arab Spring that toppled
several long-term leaders.
(Writing and additional reporting by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Kim
Coghill and Robert Birsel)
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