Gilbert Diendere (1960-) was Chairman of the National Council for Democracy of Burkina Faso from 17-23 September 2015, succeeding and preceding Michel Kafando as President of Burkina Faso.
Biography[]
Gilbert Diendere was born in 1969 in Upper Volta, and he served in the Burkinabe Army. In 1987 he took part in the coup against President Thomas Sankara, and he became one of President Blaise Compaore's closest friends in the army. After the 2014 Burkinabe coup d'etat, Diendere was dismissed from his post by the transitional government due to his alliance with the ousted Compaore, so on 17 September 2015 he led a coup with the army. President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida were arrested, but Diendere was later convinced to surrender. He fled to the Vatican City embassy, which threw him out when President Kafando made assurances that he would not be killed. Diendere was then arrested by the government and also charged with involvement in Sankara's assassination in 1987.