NNA - West African leaders on Friday decided to suspend Burkina Faso following a coup but will not impose other sanctions pending the outcome of talks with the junta, a participant at their summit said.

Conferring four days after the latest military takeover in their region, heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to send two missions to Ouagadougou.

A mission of ECOWAS chiefs of staff will fly to the Burkinabe capital on Saturday, followed on Monday by ministerial-level envoys.

Leaders will meet again on February 3 in Accra to assess the outcome of these missions and see whether additional sanctions should be imposed along with suspension, the source said.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was seized by rebel soldiers on Monday amid rising anger at his failure to stem jihadist violence ravaging the impoverished nation.

At a virtual summit lasting around three hours, the ECOWAS leaders also called for Kabore and other detained leaders to be released. --AFP

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