Burkina Faso Reports Foiling Coup Attempt, Denies Executions

The government said Monday that it had thwarted an attempted coup against the 2-year-old government of President Blaise Compaore, but it denied reports that it executed seven of those arrested.

Justice Minister Antoine Komi Sambo told a news conference that “foreign mercenaries” were among those arrested, but he refused to provide any details.

He said those arrested would be brought before the courts of this landlocked West African former French colony, once known as Upper Volta.

Burkina Faso, with a population of more than 8.5 million, gained independence in 1960.

In Paris, the Burkinabe League of Human Rights issued a statement protesting the arrests and what it called repression by the country’s “military dictatorship.”

“As of Dec. 25, more than 50 people have been arrested, and their number is likely to double in the days to come, according to disquieting information coming from Burkina Faso,” it said.

Earlier Monday, the French news agency Agence France-Presse quoted what it called well-informed sources in Ouagadougou as saying seven people were executed Sunday night and Monday morning, and about 30 others, mostly soldiers, were arrested.

Compaore took power Oct. 15, 1987, in a military coup in which President Thomas Sankara was among those slain. Officials reported another aborted coup last September and said four alleged plotters were executed summarily, including the men who were No. 2 and No. 3 in Compaore’s government.

The justice minister did not disclose when any of the latest events took place, nor did he disclose any details of the coup attempt.