Mali soldiers say seize power, close borders

Renegade Malian soldiers declared on state television today they had seized power in the West African state in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

Former colonial power France said it was suspending security cooperation with Mali and urged constitutional order to be reestablished promptly, a call echoed by the European Union.

The coup has been fronted by soldiers of the rank of captain or lower and, if successful, will add a new layer of insecurity to a Saharan region battling al Qaeda agents and a flood of weapons trafficked from Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

The army has for weeks appealed to the government for better weapons to fight the northern Tuareg rebels, now bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fought on Gaddafi's side last year but have returned to Mali.

Members of the newly formed National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR) read a statement after heavy weapons fire rang out around the presidential palace in the capital Bamako throughout the night.

"The CNRDR ... has decided to assume its responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Toure," said Lieutenant Amadou Konare, spokesman for the CNRDR.

"We promise to hand power back to a democratically elected president as soon as the country is reunified and its integrity is no longer threatened," Konare, flanked by about two dozen soldiers, said in a statement marred by sound problems.

A subsequent statement by Captain Amadou Sanogo, described as president of the CNRDR, declared an immediate curfew "until further notice". Little is known about Sanogo except that he is an instructor at a military training college.

The CNRDR declared all land and air borders shut, but it was impossible to verify whether the mutiny had sufficient support to seal off a country twice the size of France and with seven neighbors. Earlier a Reuters reporter said Bamako airport had been shut down by local police rather than renegade soldiers.

While no deaths were reported, an official at the Gabriel Toure hospital in central Bamako said around 20 people had been admitted with bullet wounds, with some in a serious condition.

Government and military sources told Reuters the mutineers entered the presidential palace overnight after it was vacated by Toure and his entourage. A defense ministry source said Toure - a 63-year-old former coup leader due to step down after April polls - was in a safe location but his whereabouts were unknown.

His decade-long rule has been among the most stable in the region. But the gold- and cotton-producer has struggled to contain a northern rebellion in which dozens have been killed and nearly 200,000 civilians have fled their homes.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and for grievances to be settled democratically. The African Union said it was "deeply concerned by the reprehensible acts currently being perpetrated by some elements of the Malian army".

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement France was suspending some security cooperation with Mali.

"We will maintain our aid to the population, particularly food aid, and we will continue our efforts in the fight against terrorism," Juppe said. Along with the United States, France has sought to bolster efforts by regional governments to combat local al Qaeda agents.

Sporadic heavy weapons and tracer fire rang out in Bamako through the night and the mutineers, who say they lack the arms and resources to face the separatist insurgency in the Sahara, temporarily forced the state broadcaster off air.

The United States strongly condemned a violent coup.

"We call for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule in Mali, including full civilian authority over the armed forces and respect for the country's democratic institutions and traditions," the White House said in a statement.