Military putsch in Mali

[Rabid]

Mali coup: World condemns mutineers

There has been widespread condemnation of Mali's troops, after they ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure.


The UN Security Council called for the "immediate restoration of constitutional rule and the democratically elected government".

The World Bank and African Development Bank said they were suspending all aid until the crisis is resolved.

The coup leaders went on state TV to say they had closed the borders. They added that the president was safe.

A government official told the BBC that President Amadou Toumani Toure was not in the custody of mutineers.

Meanwhile, soldiers looted the presidential palace in the capital Bamako, following the coup.

In a separate development, Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula and his delegation are stranded in the country, as Bamako's airport is closed.

They were attending an African Union meeting on peace and security.

Mutineers' pledge

The West African regional body Ecowas said the mutinous soldiers' behaviour was "reprehensible".

The African Union described the coup as a "significant setback for Mali".

France, the former colonial power, also suspended its aid in protest.

The soldiers, calling themselves the Committee for the Re-establishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR), have promised to hand over power to an elected government.

They said they had led Wednesday's mutiny because the government had not giving them enough arms to tackle a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg in the north of Mali.

They attacked the presidential palace, traded gunfire with soldiers loyal to the government and took over the state radio and TV broadcaster in Bamako and took it off air.

The leader of the mutiny is Capt Amadou Sanogo. In a brief TV appearance on Thursday, he announce the imposition of a national curfew and said the constitution had been suspended.

'Arrests'

The BBC's Martin Vogl in Bamako says it is possible that the coup may falter, pointing out that the mutinous troops are poorly equipped, led by a mid-ranking soldier and they do not have the backing of all Malian forces.

The well-trained and organised Red Berets unit is loyal to the president and he is believed to be under their protection, our reporter says.

A source told the BBC that the foreign minister and a number of other ministers had been arrested by the renegade soldiers.

Mali has had democratic rule for the last 20 years, during which it has come to be considered as a model which other emerging democracies can look to.

The unrest began on Wednesday as the country's defence minister started a tour of military barracks north of the capital.

Soldiers upset with the government's handling of the Tuareg rebellion fired in the air during the inspection, prompting an immediate strengthening of security around the presidential palace.

The Tuaregs have forced the army out of several northern towns in recent months.

A presidential election was due to take place in the country in just under a month.

The government had so far refused to postpone the poll, despite the unrest involving Tuareg-led rebels.

Both the US and France have urged the soldiers and government to resolve their dispute through peaceful means.

[Simon_Jester]

Wait, a captain is leading the mutiny?

I think I believe Mr. Vogl: this may end up more as a dramatic gesture than as a coup, unless the Malian army is really pissed off about the Tuaregs.

[TimothyC]

Fall out from Libya.

What makes this weird is that there were going to be elections in Mali next month.

Long term concern is of course, how this effects operations against al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Edit: I'll leave the NightWatch blurb here:

Mali: Soldiers announced on state television Thursday that they seized control of the government because of its weak response to the Tuareg insurgency in north Mali. This became a national threat after heavily armed Tuareg and other fighters that had supported Gadhafi returned home from Libya earlier this year.

On national television, a group of about 20 soldiers were shown crowding around a desk, facing the camera. They announced that the country is under the control of a National Committee for the Reestablishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State, or CNRDR.

They said they were suspending the constitution and dissolving government institutions.

"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 (President) Amadou Toumani Toure," a spokesman said, reading from a statement.

"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."

Comment: This coup is a ripple effect of the overthrow of the Qadhafi government. Tuareg fighters recently returned from Libya have been stirring up Mali Tuaregs who seek to establish an independent Saharan state. They have inflicted losses and setbacks on Malian troops during the past two months, causing stress in the Malian combat forces.

The catalyst for the anti-government action apparently was a speech by the minister of defense, who was visiting garrisons outside Bamako to bolster morale, which did not address the complaints of the troops about shortages of food and combat supplies. The troops in the audience began firing weapons into the air. Later other garrisons rioted, according to reporting available on 23 March.

The irony is that President Toure would have stepped down in a month. Presidential elections were scheduled for 29 April. The coup leaders, mostly junior grade officers, lack confidence that an elected government would satisfy their needs and wants.

It is a recurring pattern in Francophone African states that junior officers in a military system believe they know more about government than much more educated and experienced elected officials The coup thus far has provided the soldiers the usual opportunities for looting the presidential palace and making Mali an international laughing stock.

Mali had been a success story for democracy in Sahelian Africa, but presidential elections will not be held next month unless the coup leaders can be persuaded to return to barracks. The African Union has had success in counter-coup negotiations, but has not yet reacted. President Toure is safe at a loyalist military base, according to several press reports.

The coup leaders have not yet had enough time to consolidate their power grab and a counter-coup movement remains feasible, at least for a brief interval.

Notes for analysts: When putting together last night's report, the first drafts contained the assertion that the limited information available in open sources during the Watch indicated the probability of a coup was over 60%, strictly applying the coup template. .

NightWatch hedged its judgment and wrote a more cautious evaluation because of the uncertainty about who controlled the media and the absence of information about the reaction of other Army units. Those issues were clarified 24 hours later by the radio and television broadcasts by the coup leaders and by delayed news service reports of military unit revolts outside Bamako.

NightWatch was precisely accurate in advising readers that the guys with the most and most effective guns wins. It is now clear that the presidential guard did not fight the coup plotters. If any army units remain loyal to the president, they have yet to show themselves.

The key lesson is the structured analytical technique was accurate and predictive a day earlier than the news reporting. That has been the experience of US intelligence warning officers for more than 60 years.