Burkina Faso: Protesters Set Fire to Parliament Over President's Plan to Extend Rule for another 5 Years after Ruling for 25 Years[PHOTOS][VIDEO]

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Title: Burkina Faso: Protesters Set Fire to Parliament Over President's Plan to Extend Rule for another 5 Years after Ruling for 25 Years[PHOTOS][VIDEO]
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Tweet T housands of angry protesters stormed Burkina Faso's parliament and ransacked state television, forcing it off the air...

Thousands of angry protesters stormed Burkina Faso's parliament and ransacked state television, forcing it off the air ahead of a planned vote on a motion to allow the veteran president to extend his 27-year rule.

Black smoke swirled in the air around parliament in Ouagadougou after demonstrators lit fires inside the building.

Parliament had been due to vote on a plan to change the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaore -- who took power in a coup in 1987 -- to stand for re-election again next year, when he was due to stand down.

Compaore's attempt to remain in power has deeply divided Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest nations. Compaore has ruled the cotton and gold-producing nation with a firm grip but, in recent years, he has faced increasing criticism, including from within his own camp and the military.

Opposition to Compaore's plan have been mounting in recent days. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Ouagadougou and other towns across the country on Tuesday in what the opposition said was the start of a campaign of civil disobedience over the proposed constitutional reform.
The protests have led to the government abandoning plans for legislation to extend President Blaise Compaore's 27-year rule.

Alain Edouard Traore, communications minister, confirmed the government had dropped a plan to amend the constitution to remove a two-term presidential term limit that would have allowed Compaore to seek re-election next year.

At the scene: Joost Laane, speaking to BBC Focus on Africa
I am in an area where many MPs live and I have seen two of their homes set ablaze and smoke coming out of another two or three homes. Hotel Azalai, one of the main hotels in the city, is also on fire.
Two helicopters flew over my house - the president's and a normal helicopter. I cannot confirm whether the president was in one of them. No-one knows what is going to happen next. It is chaotic and tense. We hear sporadic gunfire. There is no TV anymore. So we are depending on internet access and phone calls. The 3G network and the texting system are blocked.