W.Africa bloc suspends post-coup Burkina

West African leaders on Friday decided to suspend Burkina Faso from the regional  bloc following a coup, but will not impose other sanctions pending the outcome of talks with the junta.

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 participant at their summit said.

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

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the UN envoy to West Africa and the Sahel, is also to visit this weekend.

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

Rebel soldiers seized president Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Monday amid rising anger at his failure to stem jihadist violence ravaging the impoverished nation.

The new leader is Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, 41, a rising star in the military who commands an eastern region that has been badly hit by jihadists.

In the past 18 months, the once 15-nation ECOWAS has suspended two other members -- Guinea and Mali -- where coups have occurred.

But it has also imposed an array of sanctions against them, including measures targeting their leaders. 

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

On Tuesday, the bloc issued a statement condemning the coup and accused the military of forcing Kabore to resign "under threat, intimidation and pressure".