Military detains Burkina Faso leaders weeks ahead of vote

Soldiers detained Burkina Faso's transitional president and prime minister Wednesday, the ABC News reported.

The move is raising fears of a coup just weeks before the country was to hold an election to replace its longtime leader who was ousted in a popular uprising late last year.

Members of the military showed up at the presidential offices Wednesday afternoon and barred the transitional leaders from leaving, a source at the presidency said.

Interim President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Lt. Col. Yacouba Isaac Zida were tasked with organizing the Oct. 11 presidential election, which many hoped would strengthen the country's democracy.

There have been tensions over the vote because members of the ex-president's party have been declared ineligible. Anyone who supported the ex-president's bid to amend the constitution so he could seek another term also is banned from running.

Source: MENA