By Boukary Ouedraogo
OUAGADOUGOU
West African heads of state agreed with Burkina Faso's new interim president, Isaac Zida, on a one-year transitional plan for the troubled country that would include free elections, an opposition source said Thursday.
Representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reached the agreement at a meeting with Zida and Burkinabe opposition figures in capital Ouagadougou one day earlier, the source, requesting anonymity, said.
The agreement calls for holding parliamentary and presidential polls by November of next year, he added.
Ghanaian President and ECOWAS chief John Dramani Mahama, Senegalese President Macky Sal and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan all arrived in Ouagadougou for talks on Burkina Faso's political transition following the resignation last weekend of president Blaise Compaore.
Attendees of Wednesday's meeting also agreed that interim President Zida, the second-in-command of the country's presidential guard, should relinquish authority to a civilian figure who will lead the transitional period.
However, the opposition source asserted, agreement had yet to be reached on who should take the reins from Zida.
No official outcome from the talks – which will continue until Friday – has been announced thus far.
Last weekend, Burkina Faso descended into chaos after Compaore proposed a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to seek another term in office.
In power since 1987, Compaore was ultimately forced to step down on Friday amid massive street protests against the amendment proposal. He has since left with his family to the Ivory Coast.
On Saturday, the Burkinabe army named Zida new interim president.
The appointment drew the ire of the opposition, however, which asserted that Compaore had left office as the result of popular pressure rather than a military coup.
Burkinabe authorities have since closed the country's southern border with Ghana.
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