Zephirin Diabre: Burkinabe opposition leader

Isaac Zida, named Burkina Faso’s interim leader by the army after the deposing of the long-serving president last week, was holding talks Sunday with opposition leaders, an AFP journalist said.

No details about the discussions taking place in central Ouagadougou have been disclosed.

Those attending included the leader of the main opposition group in parliament Zephirin Diabre, former foreign minister Ablasse Ouedraogo, former prime minister Roch Marc Christian Kabore and Benewende Sankara, a key spokesman during the popular uprising against president Blaise Compaore last week.

Saran Sereme, another high-profile opposition leader who joined Sunday’s mass demonstrations against the military takeover, left the room before the meeting began, apparently snubbed by other participants.

The army on Saturday named Zida, the second-in-command of the presidential guard, as head of the transitional authority, after the toppling of Compaore.