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Burkina Faso’s opposition parties and the African Union have rejected the army’s seizure of power in the West African country after the resignation of President Blaise Compaore.

A coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups met late on Saturday and issued a statement in which they described the army takeover a confiscation of people’s victory.

“The victory of the popular uprising – and consequently the management of the transition -belongs to the people and should not in any way be confiscated by the army,” the coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups said in the statement.

“Our consultation reaffirmed that this transition should be democratic and civilian in character,” it said, announcing a demonstration in the vast Place de la Nation for Sunday morning.

The military top brass named Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, deputy commander of the elite presidential guard as head of state on Saturday.

One of Africa’s long-serving rulers, Compaore stepped down on Friday after two days of mass demonstrations against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his 27 years in power.

Meanwhile, in a strongly worded statement the African Union called for the military to hand over power to civilian authorities. It said the Peace and Security Council – the arm of the 54-nation bloc that imposes sanctions for violations of democratic process – would discuss the situation today. – AP