The African Union announced Friday it was suspending Burkina Faso over Thursday's military coup, which halted preparations for the west African nation's first democratic election.

Following a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa, the 54-member pan-African bloc said the country was suspended "from all AU activities, with immediate effect" and that sanctions would be imposed "if kidnapped Transition Authorities are not released immediately" by the junta.