Burkina Faso: Ban welcomes release of several leaders, demands others be freed immediately

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the release today of the Transitional President of Burkina Faso who was detained along with several other officials following this week’s coup d’état, and reiterated his demand that all those being held be freed immediately.

“The Secretary-General continues to follow that situation in Burkina Faso very closely and with great concern,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters.

President Michel Kafando, Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida and several Government ministers were detained on Wednesday by elements of the Régiment de sécurité présidentielle while they were at a meeting in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Mr. Dujarric said the Secretary-General expresses his appreciation to Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal and Thomas Boni Yayi of Benin who arrived in Ouagadougou today on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, remains in Ouagadougou and will continue to work closely with ECOWAS, the African Union and other international partners to support and safeguard the transition in Burkina Faso.