Burkina Faso strongman Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Zida formally hands power on Friday to interim president Michel Kafando but, as prime minister, will ensure the military keeps a grip on government

Burkina Faso strongman Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Zida formally hands power on Friday to interim president Michel Kafando but, as prime minister, will ensure the military keeps a grip on government.
  
Just hours before the formal handover ceremony, the country's deposed president Blaise Compaore arrived in Morocco from Ivory Coast, where he had been in exile since his ouster in a popular revolt last month. Compaore, 63, arrived with five other people for a "fixed-term visit," the Moroccan foreign ministry said in a statement, without mentioning any time-frame.
  
Zida, 49, was appointed premier by Kafando on Wednesday, three weeks after longtime leader Compaore fled the country under pressure from mass protests. The previous day Kafando, a 72-year-old veteran diplomat, was sworn in to oversee a year-long transition to civilian rule after the turbulent ouster of Compaore's regime on October 31.
  
Seven African heads of state -- including that of Mauritania, currently presiding over the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) -- have confirmed their presence at Friday's ceremony. Kafando has emphasised his "humility" as a leader, aware that he will hold "power that belongs to the people" during his administration.
  
The former UN ambassador has pledged he will not let the landlocked nation of 17 million people become a "banana republic".

On Wednesday, Zida urged the people of Burkina Faso and the international community "to accompany us without prejudice" on the path to a peaceful transition, insisting the government would make no "selfish calculations".