Authorities started paying soldiers

The government has begun paying soldiers who demonstrated last week in the capital, Ougadougou, over withheld housing allowances, media sources in the Burkinabe capital told IRIN. One source said the government has only paid a proportion of the amount owed to the soldiers and that the balance would be paid in instalments. "It's a lump-sum payment which amounts to a relief measure," a military official was quoted by AFP as saying on Wednesday. The soldiers had threatened to demonstrate again on Thursday if their demand were unmet. Last week's demonstration was sparked by the soldiers' perception that contributions they had made to a national housing fund had been misappropriated. Civilians were relieved of the obligation to contribute to the fund in 1991.