BURKINA FASO-OPPOSITION PROTEST Clashes at Burkina Faso protest against leader's plan to extend rule.

Record ID: 708207

  • Title: BURKINA FASO-OPPOSITION PROTEST Clashes at Burkina Faso protest against leader's plan to extend rule.
  • Date: 28th October 2014
  • Summary: OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO (OCTOBER 28, 2014) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS CONFRONTING SECURITY FORCES SECURITY FORCES FIRING TEAR GAS POLICE TAKING ARRESTED PROTESTERS AWAY RIOT POLICE IN TRUCK DRIVING AROUND STREET CORNER / WATER CANON SPRAYING PROTESTERS POLICE CORDON WITH WATER CANON IN MIDDLE OF ROAD PREVENTING PROTESTERS FROM ADVANCING VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION MARCH BEFORE RIOT PROTESTERS MARCHING, SOME CARRYING WITH PLACARDS (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER, SAYING: "He (President Blaise Compaore) shouldn't change the constitution, we don't want him anymore, and we will stop him, we will stop the Assembly, we will sleep there tonight." VARIOUS OF MARCH POLICE CORDON, LINE OF SECURITY FORCES VEHICLES BLOCKING ROAD
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Burkina Faso
  • Country: Burkina Faso
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3R13GIAOJDZAL1EMSVYXY0ALR
  • Story Text: Police fired teargas at rock-throwing protesters after tens of thousands marched through Burkina Faso's capital on Tuesday (October 28) calling for President Blaise Compaore to scrap plans to change term limits to stay in power.
    An early morning march through the heart of Ouagadougou was peaceful but clashes erupted later as protesters tried to advance towards the National Assembly.
    Protesters chanted "Step aside!" and "Don't touch Article 37", referring to the clause in the constitution that now bars Compaore, in power for 27 years, from running again next year.
    Others carried banners comparing Compaore to Ebola, the virus that has killed nearly 5,000 people in the nearby states of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
    "We don't want him (Compaore) anymore, and we will stop him, we will stop the Assembly, we will sleep there tonight," said a man at the march.
    Protesters who marched towards the National Assembly, where the law will be debated on Thursday, were blocked by security forces who fired volleys of teargas and used water cannons.
    They responded by burning tyres and throwing rocks. A pocket of demonstrators gathered in a downtown square pledging to hold out until Compaore shelved his plan.
    Tuesday marked the start of a civil disobedience campaign by opposition parties after the government asked the National Assembly to order a referendum on changing the constitution to let Compaore seek re-election next year rather than step down.
    Former colonial power France, which uses Burkina Faso as a base for Special Forces soldiers operating across West Africa, urged Compaore to abide by an African Union charter stipulating that leaders should not change the law to try to stay in power.
    There was no immediate figure for arrests or casualties. A government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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