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Yawn, Another African Coup Attempt
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso - The West African country of Burkina Faso said Tuesday it had arrested about a dozen suspected coup plotters accused of scheming with the help of a foreign state. The senior official who announced the arrests did not name the country involved, but tensions have been high with neighboring Ivory Coast, which has accused Burkina Faso of backing rebels holding half of their county.It's an African Mobius Strip, I plot to overthrow you because you're plotting to overthrow me because... The impoverished former French colony's military prosecutor, Abdoulaye Barry, said that those arrested in the past few days included two army captains and one civilian -- a Christian pastor who was to give spiritual support to the plotters. Those damn christians, always plotting Barry said they had all been detained for suspected crimes against state security, though they were still at the recruitment stage and were awaiting help from a foreign country. Got their web site up, taking resumes, issuing an IPO, etc.. "Do not ask me which country it is. I will not tell you, but according to the mastermind of this business the money had already arrived from a foreign country and now they were waiting for the weapons," Barry said. "I can say no more." The news is likely to fan tensions with neighboring Ivory Coast, which has accused Burkina Faso of backing rebels who failed to seize power in September 2002 but still control the largely Muslim north. Burkina Faso has denied helping the Ivorian rebels but accuses Ivory Coast of mistreating its citizens -- many of whom work on cocoa plantations. Ivory Coast grows 40 percent of the world's cocoa. "No blood for Herseys!" President Blaise Compaore has ruled Burkina Faso since seizing power in a coup in 1987 that toppled populist ruler Thomas Sankara, an old friend. What's a little coup between friends? Posted by: Steve 2003-10-07 |
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