Burkina 'turns page' after coup bid: interim leader

"We managed to overcome this camp without any casualties," interim president Michel Kafando told reporters of the raid on rogue members of the elite RSP presidential guard.

"A page in our history has been turned, the new Burkina is underway," he proclaimed at the site of the army raid, adding that the country had emerged stronger after its "long nightmare".

General Gilbert Diendere, the leader of the failed September 17 coup, was on Wednesday in talks on handing himself in to the government that his elite force tried to unseat.

The negotiations on Diendere's surrender were taking place at an unnamed diplomatic mission in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a statement by the interim government, and came as the EU urged speedy elections.

Tuesday night's raid saw the army in Ouagadougou fire heavy weapons at the barracks of the RSP, crack troops who are loyal to ousted president Blaise Compaore.

Although the unit formally abandoned their coup efforts last week -- allowing the interim leadership to resume office -- they refused to disarm under the terms of a peace deal, creating fresh tension with the military which came to a head late Tuesday.

- 'Organise credible elections' -

The European Union hailed the end of the standoff, urging the government to quickly hold elections.

"The end of the clashes is an important step towards normalising the situation in Burkina Faso," the EU's foreign affairs arm said in a statement.

"The first task now is to organise as quickly as possible, credible, transparent and free elections."

The attempted coup took place just weeks before the west African nation was to hold its first presidential and legislative elections since Compaore was ousted in a popular revolt last October after trying to extend his 27 years of iron-fisted rule.

The first round of voting was to have taken place on October 11, although officials have since said there will be a delay of several weeks due to the crisis.

Speaking to AFP as the drama played out, coup leader Diendere said it was likely there were "many deaths and injuries".

But a soldier who entered the barracks on Wednesday morning told AFP he had not seen any evidence that people had been killed.

"I have not see any bodies," he said.

The army's Chief of Staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said late Tuesday that the camp was largely empty at the time of the assault.

Diendere, Compaore's former chief of staff, told AFP he was ready to face justice, saying he was "at the disposal of my country's judiciary."

By Wednesday morning, many soldiers had fanned out on the streets of the capital's Ouaga 2000 district, where the presidency and the RSP's sprawling barracks are located.

"We are looking for members (of the RSP). Some of them are hiding," one of the soldiers told AFP as he blocked access to the neighbourhood.

Elsewhere in the city, life appeared to be regaining some semblance of normalcy, with many venturing out onto the streets on mopeds, the most popular form of transport in Ouagadougou.

And hoards of workers could be seen having breakfast in roadside taverns.

"We're proud. We were the ones who won. There was no need for talking, just to attack (the RSP)," a driver called Momune Sigue told AFP.

"Now we want elections and Diendere must be tried," said this father of two.

Ahead of the assault, Ouagadougou airport was closed as troops locked down the area, deploying armoured cars and pickup trucks throughout the neighbourhood and stationing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at several intersections.

Troops also arrested Djibril Bassole ahead of the raid in connection with the coup, military and security sources told AFP. He had served as foreign minister under Compaore and had been expected to run in the presidential elections.

One of the coup plotters' main demands had been that the transitional leadership lift a ban on Compaore's allies and supporters running in the elections.

AFP