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Burkina president dismisses security minister

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:41AM

Burkina Faso's interim president has sacked his security minister, in a move widely seen as submission to mounting pressure by the West African nation's powerful military establishment.

President Michel Kafando announced the dismissal of Colonel Auguste-Denise Barry from his position in a statement read on state television on Sunday, highlighting persisting political tensions in the ranks of current and former senior military officers.

The development came as the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), an elite military unit regarded as the best trained in the Burkinabe army, targeted the security minister after pressing for the removal of his ally, Prime Minister Isaac Zida, who was kept in his cabinet position but stripped on Thursday from his additional portfolio as defense minister.

The RSP triggered a brief political turmoil in the impoverished nation last February when they insisted on Zida's dismissal after he publicly called for the disbandment of the elite corps.

Tensions had been brewing between Zida, a former military officer who rose to power after former president Blaise Compaore was deposed by a popular uprising in October, and the RSP, comprising the ex-president's right-hand men.

Meanwhile, the RSP was widely censured for its heavy-handed response to anti-government protest rallies that eventually ousted Compaore after 27 years in power. The crackdown killed 24 people and injured more than 600.

Moreover, Kafando appointed regional cooperation minister Moussa Nebie as his new foreign minister, a position held by himself. The move promoted Nebie to the government's third most powerful position.

Burkina Faso has been run by transitional officials since Compaore was toppled last year.

The military then briefly assumed control of the landlocked African country of 17 million before handing it over to the interim government, which is due to remain in power until next October when presidential and legislative elections are to be held.