Junta chief Burkina Faso's new President
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Burkina Faso's top constitutional body has declared Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba President of the country.
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Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Burkina Faso's new military strongman, has been declared President by the country's top constitutional body after a coup last month, legal sources said today, Thursday.
"Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, lieutenant-colonel in the national armed forces, president of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (the official name of the junta), is the president" of Burkina Faso, determined by the Constitutional Council on Wednesday, the sources said.
Damiba is also head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, it added.
The junta had announced on January 31 that Damiba would be appointed for a transitional period and would be assisted by two vice presidents. In a statement, the Constitutional Council said that Damiba's would formally swear in on February 16 in Ouagadougou.
On January 24, Burkina Faso's Army has announced ousting President Roch Kabore due to his "inability" to run the country.
Burkina Faso's protest came amid an escalation of Al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked attacks that have killed thousands and displaced 1.5 million people. According to the United Nations, nearly 12,000 people were displaced within two weeks in December.
The international community strongly condemned the coup in Burkina Faso, which followed two coups in Mali and Guinea, demanding the "immediate release of the ousted President."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, also warned of punitive measures after the military coup.
Burkina Faso has been suspended from the West African bloc ECOWAS, although a summit saw fit not to impose new sanctions on the country in light of the coup that saw the military taking over the African nation due to the deteriorating security situation that the military attributed to President Roch Kabore.
