E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Burkinabe leader dissolves government amid mutiny
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Burkina Faso's
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now...
President Blaise Compaore has dissolved his government amid reports of a mutiny in the country's military.

In the presidential decree issued on Friday, Compaore also appointed Colonel Major Nabere Honore Traore to replace General Dominique Djendjere as the chief of general staff for the national army.

He also appointed Colonel Boureima Kere to replace Colonel Major Gilbert Diendere as the head of the presidential security brigade.

Officers attached to the presidential security brigade went on the rampage on Thursday and Friday, destroying property and leaving a number of people injured. The mutineers were reportedly venting anger at the government for failing to meet their demand for housing and food allowances.
Never a smart idea to short the Praetorian Guard...
Heavy gunfire was heard at the presidential palace in Ouagadougou on Thursday night. President Compaore was not in the palace at the time.

Power supply was also disconnected to various districts of the capital.

The officers from the presidential guard unit received support from other military camps, especially in the area of Ouezin. They vented their anger by ransacking various places, particularly the home of the chief of general staff, and the shops in the capital's main market.

Public offices and service stations opened for a short while on Friday morning, but closed after an hour following rumours that the soldiers had surrounded strategic places.

Compaore, himself a former army captain, was re-elected in November with more than 80 per cent of the vote, having won all elections since 1991 after coming to power in a 1987 military coup.
Posted by: Fred 2011-04-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=320613