The leaders of last week's coup in Burkina Faso freed interim prime minister Isaac Zida early Tuesady, several sources said.

A police source and a member of Zida's entourage told AFP that the prime minister, held at the presidential palace since the coup on Wednesday, was allowed to return to his official residence.

The move came shortly after the army entered the capital Ouagadougou to negotiate the surrender of the putschists.