Ban also reiterated his call for “a swift resumption of the transition process to enable Burkina Faso’s return to constitutional order with the holding of presidential and legislative elections in accordance with the Constitution and the Transitional Charter,” Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday during the regular briefing at UN Headquarters.

President Michel Kafando, Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida and several Government ministers were detained last Wednesday and later released by elements of the Presidential Guard.

Meanwhile, as the Secretary-General follows the ongoing regional mediation efforts towards the resolution of the crisis, his Special Representative for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, is coordinating with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and other international partners to support and safeguard the transition in the country.

Photo: Brahima Ouedraogo/IRIN