Burkina Faso: A Regional Warning The African Union on Monday gave Burkina Faso's military leaders two weeks to return power to a civilian-led government or face severe sanctions. The warning by the Peace and Security Council of the 54-nation organization, posted on its Twitter account after an emergency meeting in Ethiopia, came as the country's interim president, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, sought to assure diplomats and residents that the military takeover of the government on Friday was only temporary. The armed forces seized control after the longtime president, Blaise Compaoré, fled amid mass protests over his efforts to engineer a vote that would have allowed him to stay in office indefinitely. The United States government, which is legally obliged to suspend aid to countries where power is usurped by the military, did not immediately take a position on whether the events in Burkina Faso had amounted to a coup. "We're still gathering facts," said Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman. We're not going to make a policy or legal determination at this point in time.