Michel Kafando, resumed power on Wednesday, one week after he was ousted by the presidential guard, following a coup. He said he had restored a civilian transitional government. "The transition is back and I am taking back, at this very minute, exercise of power of the state," he said.

Gilbert Diendere, the brigadier general who led the coup, said on Tuesday that he was ready to hand over power to a civilian after a decision had been passed by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.

An agreement was signed between the presidential guard and army loyalists late Tuesday, to end the hostilities. The presidential guard agreed to remain confined to barracks, while the loyalists said they would retreat to 50 kilometers from Ouagadougou, as part of the deal.

The coup leader welcomed the Presidents of Ghana, Niger and Benin who arrived in Ouagadougou on Wednesday followed later by Togolese president and the Nigerian vice president.

The ECOWAS leaders did not mention an amnesty for the coup leaders nor whether supporters of ousted President Compaore would be allowed to participate in the upcoming polls, as they had previously demanded.

Professor Alexander Stroh, Assistant Professor of African Politics & Development Policy at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, told DW that the coup leader's move to ask for amnesty was not a surprise. "There is more at stake other than what happened over the last few days," he added.

Burkina Faso's army sent troops into the capital, Ouagadougou, to press coup leader Diendere and his soldiers to cede power. ECOWAS also called on the junta to lay down its arms.

The head of Burkina Faso's transitional parliament, Cherif Sy declared himself the West African nation's interim leader Tuesday, dissolving the elite presidential guard. Stroh described Cherif Sy's reaction as "pure power politics".

Stroh anticipates that Burkina Faso can get back on track and conduct elections "in an appropriate time frame not only in a year but a delay or postponement of the election by a few weeks," he said.