Mali ex-junta says counter-coup defeated
Early in the night, a regional diplomatic source indicated that the Bamako airport was under the control of loyalist forces.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Mali-ex-junta-s...
The situation remained unclear near the headquarters of the TV and radio station, which had been partly controlled by the presidential guard before renewed firefights, local media said.
By all accounts, the fighting centered around the military camp of Kati, the headquarters of the junta troops, located about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the capital.
The road between Bamako and the Kati camp was blocked by elements of the loyalist forces who, diplomatic sources said, had surrounded the city.
"Obviously, there is a coup against Sanogo" attempted by supporters of Toure, said a government source in a neighbouring country.
When the renegade soldiers staged their coup on March 22, shortly before scheduled elections, their power grab shattered the country's image as a democratic success story in the region.
Under diplomatic pressure from Mali's partners and military pressure from the advancing rebellion in the north, the junta agreed to hand power over to Dioncounda Traore, the former parliament speaker.
Traore was sworn in as interim president on April 12, but the situation in the country has remained volatile.
In the north, an area the size of France is now in the hands of Islamist militias and Tuareg separatist rebels, many of them battle-hardened and well-armed after serving as mercenaries in the Libyan conflict.
The regional grouping ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, has mediated the handover to a civilian government and pressured the junta to return to the barracks, with mixed success.
Captain Sanogo on Saturday rejected a plan by ECOWAS leaders to send troops to oversee the transition period, and also nixed their demand for elections in Mali within 12 months.
A meeting that had been planned for Tuesday between an ECOWAS mediator, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, and a delegation of the former junta was cancelled, a source close to the mediators said.
The delegation of rebels would not come because an aircraft in which they had been due to travel "could not land in Bamako," as gunfire was exchanged in the city late Monday, the source told AFP.
In the TV message broadcast early on Tuesday, the coup leaders said the situation was under control after the clashes with members of presidential guard and "foreign elements".
"These are elements of the presidential guard from the old regime and they're trying to turn things around," junta spokesman Bacary Mariko told the Reuters news agency.One eyewitness told Reuters that the streets of Bamako were deserted. Electricity has been cut in several part of the city.
By all accounts, the fighting centered around the military camp of Kati, the headquarters of the junta troops, located about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the capital.
The road between Bamako and the Kati camp was blocked by elements of the loyalist forces who, diplomatic sources said, had surrounded the city.
"Obviously, there is a coup against Sanogo" attempted by supporters of Toure, said a government source in a neighbouring country.
When the renegade soldiers staged their coup on March 22, shortly before scheduled elections, their power grab shattered the country's image as a democratic success story in the region.
Under diplomatic pressure from Mali's partners and military pressure from the advancing rebellion in the north, the junta agreed to hand power over to Dioncounda Traore, the former parliament speaker.
Traore was sworn in as interim president on April 12, but the situation in the country has remained volatile.
In the north, an area the size of France is now in the hands of Islamist militias and Tuareg separatist rebels, many of them battle-hardened and well-armed after serving as mercenaries in the Libyan conflict.
The regional grouping ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, has mediated the handover to a civilian government and pressured the junta to return to the barracks, with mixed success.
Captain Sanogo on Saturday rejected a plan by ECOWAS leaders to send troops to oversee the transition period, and also nixed their demand for elections in Mali within 12 months.
A meeting that had been planned for Tuesday between an ECOWAS mediator, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, and a delegation of the former junta was cancelled, a source close to the mediators said.
The delegation of rebels would not come because an aircraft in which they had been due to travel "could not land in Bamako," as gunfire was exchanged in the city late Monday, the source told AFP.
In the TV message broadcast early on Tuesday, the coup leaders said the situation was under control after the clashes with members of presidential guard and "foreign elements".
"These are elements of the presidential guard from the old regime and they're trying to turn things around," junta spokesman Bacary Mariko told the Reuters news agency.One eyewitness told Reuters that the streets of Bamako were deserted. Electricity has been cut in several part of the city.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Mali-ex-junta-s...