The storming of  the presidential palace in the normally stable West African state of Mali in the early hours of Thursday brought swift condemnation from the region's bloc ECOWAS, which described the coup as "misguided." 

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said it was "an apparent setback to the consolidation of democracy" and urged the international community not to recognize the military ursurpers.   

Mali's neighbor Algeria, with whom its shares a large desert border, said it was monitoring the situation with "great concern."

Condemnation also came from the African Union's chairman Jean Ping who said the rebellion "had no justification whatsoever."

The United States has also joined calls for the "restoration of constitutional order" in Mali. 

President Toure unharmed

Renegade Mali soldiers forced President Amadou Toumani Toure to flee on Thursday, claiming on television to have ousted "an incompetent regime" and dissolved state institutions.

The putschists, calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy, said they had acted because of the government's "inability" to put down a Tuareg-led insurrection in the north.

Claiming to represent the nation's defense forces, Lieutenant Amadaou Konare said the junta was "solemnly committed to restore power to a democratically elected president as soon as national unity and territorial integrity had been re-established."  

His appearance on television came after the soldiers seized the presidential palace in the capital Bamako and arrested several ministers. President Toure was initially holed up in the palace as shots were fired, but he managed to flee the premises. Officials loyal to his regime told the AFP news agency he was unharmed and had been moved to a safe location.

Witnesses reported heavy gunfire and the use of tracer bullets. Elite paratroopers known as the "Red Berrets" attempted to fight back, but the renegade soldiers claimed the upper hand.

A presidential election is due on April 29. Toure, who has served two terms, was not a candidate. Under his leadership, Mali had been hailed as a growing democratic success in the region. Toure came to power himself in a coup in 1991 but later handed over the country to civilians. A decade later, he won the 2002 democratic election.

The challenges began to mount in January of this year when al Qaeda's north African branch stepped up its attacks on Mali government troops and its kidnappings of foreigners. Meanwhile Tuareg rebels launched their largest offensive in years in the impoverished north, displacing tens of thousands.

Anger has grown among soldiers over the government's handling of that conflict and an attempt by the defense minister, Sadio Gassama, to ease tensions at a military barracks outside the capital Bamako turned sour on Wednesday. The soldiers fired shots in the air as they demanded proper weapons with which they could face the rebels. Later in the day, troops started rioting at a military garrison in the town of Gao some 3,200 kilometers (1,988 miles) away.    

Rebel tells DW fighting will continue

Tens of thousands of Tuareg rebels who fought for the late Colonel Gadhafi in Libya have returned to Mali. They have difficulty finding employment, but are heavily armed and have experience of battle.

Dr Jibo Ibrahim, president of the West African Society Forum, told DW that the situation on the ground is such that the Malian government has lost control of between 50 and 70 percent of its territory. "The insurgency by the Tuareg combatants is a very strong insurgency. What this means it that there is a serious ongoing battle over who controls the Malian state."  

One Tuareg rebel, Abdoul Karim Ag Matsa, told DW by phone from Kidal, a region where Tuareg nomads who had fought for Gadhafi were believed to be gathering, that "the putsch wouldn't change anything. The fighting will continue for as long as our territory is occupied."      

The Tuaregs, a traditionally nomadic people spread across the Sahara Desert, have risen up against the central government in Mali several times since the country's independence from France in 1960.

A loyalist Malian official reacted angrily to a call from French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for the April 29 polls to be held as soon as possible. "In situations like these you don't call for early elections. The first thing you should ask for is the restoration of constitutional order," he said.  

Author: Mark Caldwell (AFP, AP, Reuters) 
Editor: Susan Houlton / rm