Burkina Faso’s military regime, in power since a 2022 coup, will extend its rule for five years under an accord adopted during national consultations on Saturday, the talks’ chairman said.

“The duration of the transition is fixed at 60 months from July 2, 2024,” Colonel Moussa Diallo, chairman of the organising committee of the national dialogue process, said after the talks.

He added that coup leader and acting president Ibrahim Traore could run in any elections at the end of the transition period.

What was supposed to be a two-day national dialogue began earlier Saturday, ostensibly to chart a way back to civilian rule for the West African nation beset by jihadist violence.

The army has governed Burkina Faso since 2022, carrying out two coups that it said were justified in large part by the persistent insecurity.

Jihadist rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a grinding insurgency since 2015 that has killed thousands and
displaced millions.

AFP, BSS