OUAGADOUGOU, Jan 31 (Reuters) – The African Union (AU) said on Monday it had suspended Burkina Faso following last week’s military coup, saying the suspension would remain in effect until the constitutional order be restored in Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso was already suspended last week from ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States.
A delegation from ECOWAS and a United Nations envoy were expected in Burkina Faso on Monday to meet the leaders of the junta which took power after overthrowing President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and suspending the Constitution on January 24.
“The Council decides (..) to suspend Burkina Faso’s participation in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country,” said the Directorate of Political Affairs, Peace and AU Security on Twitter.
The AU took the same decision against Mali and Guinea after coups in those countries last year. The putsch in Burkina Faso is the fourth in 18 months in the region.
The leader of the junta, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, declared last Thursday that constitutional order would be restored in Burkina Faso “when the conditions are met”.
(Report Thiam Ndiaga, French version Marc Angrand)