The leader of the coup d’etat in Burkina Faso told a French magazine on Thursday that the interim president and prime minister who have been arrested were in good health and would be released.

General Gilbert Diendere told the Jeune Afrique weekly that the coup had been launched by the presidential guard because of the “serious pre-election security situation” the country faced as it prepared for its first elections since longtime leader Blaise Compaore was overthrown last year.