ECOWAS, EU condemn Malian Coup Makers

West Africa regional bloc ECOWAS has condemned actions by renegade Mali soldiers who claimed they had seized power from an “incompetent regime.

“ECOWAS strongly condemns the misguided actions of the mutineers and warns that it will not condone any recourse to violence as a means of seeking redress,” said a statement by the Economic Community of West African States bloc.

What began as a mutiny over the government’s response to the rekindled Tuareg insurrection in the north on Wednesday afternoon turned into a full-blown coup as soldiers seized control of the presidential palace and the government broadcaster.

Putschists, calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy, went on television early Thursday to announce they had taken over power in the west African country.

ECOWAS said it had followed with “dismay and mounting concern” events in Bamako, the capital of its member state Mali.

It said the action by the military was “all the more reprehensible” coming amid regional and international peace efforts to end the Tuareg-led rebellion in the north of the country.
The European Union called Thursday for constitutional rule to return to Mali “as soon as possible” after mutinous soldiers claimed to have seized power in a coup.

“We condemn the military takeover of power and the suspension of the constitution. Constitutional rule should be restored as soon as possible,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

“The safety and liberty of the people of Mali must be preserved in all circumstances,” he said in a statement.

The putschists, calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy, said they had acted due to government’s “inability” to handle a Tuareg-led insurrection in the north of the country.

The group’s spokesman, identified on-screen as Lieutenant Amadou Konare said the takeover was a result of a “lack of adequate material to defend the nation” as well as government’s inability to combat terrorism.

Claiming to represent the nation’s defence forces, Konare said the junta “solemnly commits to restore power to a democratically-elected president as soon as national unity and territorial integrity are re-established.”

Mali was to hold the first round of a presidential election on April 29.