Ouagadougou, October 1

General Gilbert Diendere, the leader of Burkina Faso’s short-lived coup, was taken into  police custody on Wednesday, a security source told AFP today.

Diendere, who had said several times that he was willing to face justice following the abortive September 17 putsch, was at the Paspanga police base near the centre of the capital Ouagadougou this afternoon.

He had taken refuge at the residence of the Vatican’s representative in the country on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The residence, not far from the presidential palace, was under tight surveillance this afternoon.

Wednesday had seen the arrest of six pro-coup officers while another Diendere supporter, lieutenant-colonel Mamadou Bamba, who had announced the putsch, handed himself into police today.

Earlier, a senior army source told AFP a majority of troops from the regiment behind the failed coup had joined loyalist units after their unit was disbanded.