OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) – Burkina Faso’s political crisis deepened Sunday as the military insisted its general must serve as head of state until the next elections while protesters clashed outside the hotel where regional leaders were mediating.
Shots were heard near the hotel Sunday afternoon.
Benin’s president had raised hopes late Saturday that a deal was near, but the negotiations continued Sunday without any announcement of a resolution.
The leaders of last week’s coup have proposed a unity government until elections can be held, though they insist that Gen. Gilbert Diendere must head that government. Elections had been scheduled for Oct. 11 before soldiers overthrew the country’s interim president and prime minister.
Meanwhile, tensions mounted around the hotel where the presidents of Benin and Senegal tried to broker a solution. Gunfire rang out late in the afternoon in the area, while clashes had erupted earlier in the day between pro- and anti-coup demonstrators.