Mali rebels seek president
Bamako, 23 Mar – (ANA) - Tuareg rebels in northern Mali have pushed south to occupy positions abandoned by government forces, sources said, as mutinous soldiers in the capital Bamako sought to complete a coup by hunting down the president. The rebels were approaching towns in the desert north, taking advantage of the confusion created by the attempted coup in Bamako by low-ranking soldiers, a military source told Reuters.
Mutinous soldiers, angered by what they saw as the government's poor handling of the northern rebellion, roamed the streets of the capital after over-running the presidential palace and taking control of state television.
The head of a body set up by the mutineers, speaking to journalists, suggested soldiers were trying to arrest President Amadou Toumani Toure. The president's whereabouts were unknown, though there were unconfirmed reports he was being protected by loyalist troops in the city.
Mali, which was flooded with men and weapons after Libya's civil war, was already facing the Tuareg-led rebellion, a growing Islamist threat and a food crisis when the coup broke out after soldiers mutinied Wednesday.
A Malian officer in the northern town of Kidal said rebels had occupied the military camp in Anefis, 100 km (60 miles) to the southwest, after government forces withdrew. (ANA)
FA/ANA/23 March 2012---------