Renegade Mali soldiers announce takeover
Bamako, 22 Mar – (ANA) - Rebel troops have appeared on Malian state TV to announce they have seized control of the country, hours after attacking the presidential palace. The rebels said that a nationwide curfew was in force and that the constitution had been suspended. The renegade troops had staged a mutiny on Wednesday, trading gunfire with soldiers loyal to the government.
The mutineers say the government is not giving them enough arms to tackle a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs. On Wednesday the mutineers had taken over the state radio and TV broadcaster in Bamako and took it off air. After several hours of footage of traditional Malian music and dancing, a group of soldiers appeared on screen early on Thursday morning, with a caption identifying them as the "Committee for the Re-establishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State". A spokesperson for the rebels, identified on screen as Lt Amadou Konare, said they had ended the "incompetent regime" of President Amadou Toumani Toure. Lt Konare condemned the "inability" of the government to "fight terrorism", and said the soldiers would look to hand over to a democratically elected government. (ANA)
FA/ANA/22 March 2012---------