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Military Gets Key Posts in Burkina Faso's New Cabinet

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Burkina Faso Prime Minister Isaac Zida listens as an official reads the names of transitional government ministers in Ouagadougou Nov. 23, 2014.
Burkina Faso Prime Minister Isaac Zida listens as an official reads the names of transitional government ministers in Ouagadougou Nov. 23, 2014.

Burkina Faso's military has held on to powerful posts in a new Cabinet unveiled Sunday, three weeks after the army took over following a popular revolt.

Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida will remain prime minister and also take over as defense minister. The military likewise will have control of four other ministries: Interior and Territorial Administration, Sports, Environment, and Mines.

Interim civilian President Michel Kafando also will serve as foreign minister.

Burkina Faso's former president, Blaise Compaore, was forced from power by mass protests in October, after he sought to amend the constitution to prolong his 27-year rule.

The military, led by Colonel Zida, assumed control of the country but was pressured by the African Union to cede power to a civilian president who will rule until elections in 2015.

Under the terms of a transitional charter agreed earlier this month, neither Colonel Zida nor Kafando is eligible to run for president next year.

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