Burkina Faso

The gunmen stormed the five-storey Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou's business district, burning cars outside and firing in the air to drive back crowds before security forces arrived, prompting an intense exchange of gunfire.

Residents lined up at gas stations and money machines Thursday. Many went early to buy sheep at the market for slaughter in celebration of Eid al-Adha, known here as Tabaski, one of Islam's most important holidays.

During prayers, Muslim leader Aboubakar Sana called for peace and dialogue that will lead to free and fair elections. October elections were postponed in the wake of the coup, and have not yet been officially rescheduled.

Gen. Gilbert Diendere, the coup leader, instead said he would hand over power when requested by West African leaders currently meeting in Nigeria.

Soldiers from all over this West African nation arrived in the capital, Ouagadougou, overnight in a show of force to convince the troops backing the coup to lay down their arms. Residents cheered their arrival early Tuesday before they were asked to return to their homes.

The announcement came after the military warned that its forces would converge on the capital and forcibly disarm the soldiers behind the power grab.

Gen. Gilbert Diendere said his presidential guard unit "confirms our commitment to giving power back to civilian authorities." That was one of the key conditions of a draft agreement that resulted from weekend negotiations with regional mediators, but it had been unclear until his announcement whether the junta would abide by those terms.

North of the city center, smoke rose from barricades where crowds chanted slogans denouncing Gen. Gilbert Diendere, who was named leader of Burkina Faso on Thursday after members of the elite Presidential Security Regiment stormed a government meeting and detained the acting president and prime minister.

A former aide to ex-President Blaise Compaore, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year, was named the new head of state. Demonstrators who opposed Compaore's bid to prolong his 27-year rule forced him from office.

At least one person was killed when the presidential guard opened fire with live ammunition to disperse crowds protesting the coup, witnesses said. Several others were treated for gunshot wounds, according to a worker at the main hospital in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Hours later, gunfire erupted in the capital as the soldiers behind the standoff tried to disperse protesters who were marching on the presidential palace where the two transitional leaders were being detained. It was not immediately clear whether any of the demonstrators were wounded.

People could be seen fleeing in all directions as the shooting continued, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

Senegalese authorities said the crews of a ship and two planes were scouring an area off the Atlantic coast of Senegal for signs of the wreckage.

Magueye Maram, an official with the Senegalese Aviation Authority, said that the plane lost contact late Saturday. It disappeared from the radar when it was 111 kilometers (69 miles) west of Senegal's seaside capital, Dakar.

In addition to the patient, the plane was carrying a Senegalese doctor, two nurses and the three-person crew of the Senegalair-operated flight.