Blaise Compaoré back in Burkina Faso after eight years in exile.

The former president arrived Thursday, July 7, in Ouagadougou to participate in a meeting of former Burkinabè heads of state with the country's new strongman, putschist Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, AFP learned in the news. entourage of Blaise Compaoré and airport sources.

The plane from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in which Blaise Compaoré was traveling landed at the Ouagadougou military airbase while dozens of his supporters were waiting for him at the capital's civilian airport.

This is the first time that the former president has set foot on his country's soil since he was forced into exile in Côte d'Ivoire in October 2014, after violent popular riots which broke out against his will. remain in power after 27 years of rule. 

"Accelerate national reconciliation"

However, it is not a question of a definitive return, but of a stay of a few days at the invitation of Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, author of a coup d'etat in January.

Like the former Burkinabè presidents still alive, Blaise Compaoré must participate in a meeting to "accelerate national reconciliation" in the face of the jihadist attacks which have bloodied Burkina Faso since 2015 and have multiplied in recent months.

On April 6, Blaise Compaoré was sentenced in absentia in Burkina to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara, during a coup that brought him to power in 1987.

With AFP

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