Soldiers Stages Coup And Takes Over Government In Mail As President's Location Remains Unknown

Mutinous soldiers attacked Mali's presidential palace overnight on Thursday as a protest over the government's handling of a nomad-led rebellion in the north turned in to an all-out coup d'etat bid.

Heavy weapons fire rang out in the capital Bamako and the mutineers, who complain they lack arms and resources to face a separatist insurgency in the Sahara desert north, forced the state broadcaster off the air.

An official said President Amadou Toumani Toure was in a secure location but gave no further details.
The soldiers said the coup was necessary because of the mishandling of an insurgency in the north.

The spokesman for the soldiers, Lieutenant Amadou Konare, said in a communique that the troops had taken the country's security into their own hands "due to the inability of the government to give the armed forces the necessary means to defend the integrity of our national territory".

A soldier at the presidential palace said the presidential guard had failed to defend the palace against the renegade soldiers. They have seized control of the seat of government, but could not find democratically elected leader president Amadou Toumani Toure, who is in hiding.

On national television, a group of about 20 soldiers were shown in fatigues crowding around a desk facing the camera. They introduced themselves as the National Committee for the Re-establishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State, or CNRDR.

"The CNRDR representing all the elements of the armed forces, defensive forces and security forces has decided to assume its responsibilities and end the incompetent and disavowed regime of Amadou Toumani Toure," said their spokesman reading from a statement.

"All the institutions of the republic are dissolved until further notice. The objective of the CNRDR does not in any way aim to confiscate power, and we solemnly swear to return power to a democratically elected president as soon as national unity and territorial integrity are established."

The sound of gunfire could be heard from the direction of the presidential palace.

The series of events that culminated in the coup began on Wednesday morning at a military camp in the capital, during a visit by defence minister General Sadio Gassama.

In his speech to the troops, the minister failed to address the grievances of the rank-and-file soldiers, who are angry over what they say is the government's mismanagement of a rebellion in the north by Tuareg separatists.

The rebellion has claimed the lives of numerous soldiers, and those sent to fight are not given sufficient supplies, including arms or food. Their widows have not received compensation.

Sources: The Independent And Reuters