20120326
AFP
Mali was gripped by uncertainty on Sunday after a coup by mutinous soldiers who ousted the president, leaving a power vacuum exploited by separatist Tuareg rebels waging an offensive in the north.

The capital Bamako was tense, with few people venturing out as security forces patrolled the streets four days after the coup in the deeply impoverished west African state.

Banks and most shops were shut in the usually bustling city, although some petrol stations have reopened after being asked to do so by the junta as it struggles to restore order.

President Amadou Toumani Toure's whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to be safe under the protection of his loyalist paratrooper guard, while 14 members of his government detained by the putschists have threatened a hunger strike.

"There are 14 of us in a room of 12 square metres, sleeping three to a mattress. Our basic rights are being violated," said a message from one of the officials sent to AFP.

They are being held at the Kati military barracks outside Bamako where coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo is seeking to reinforce the impression of control, holding meetings and making several public declarations.

He met French ambassador Christian Rouyer and other dignitaries on Saturday, state television reported, but the junta has been largely frozen out by the international community in a chorus of rebukes and suspension of aid.

On Sunday, Nairobi announced that the Kenyan and Zimbabwean foreign ministers were evacuated by a chartered flight after being stranded in Mali after Thursday's coup.

After widespread looting by soldiers after the coup, the junta tried to restore order, urging "all those in uniform to report to their barracks for an inspection" and reminding unit commanders they were responsible for their men.

On Saturday Sanogo took to the television to show he was still alive after swirling rumours of a counter-attack by loyalist troops.

But as the junta struggled to restore order in Bamako, Tuareg rebels in the country's north continued an offensive which sparked the mutiny and subsequent coup, closing in on the key town of Kidal.

The low-ranking soldiers who seized power claim they are fed up with the government's failure to equip them properly to fight the Tuareg insurrection.

The Tuareg, desert tribes that populate the north of Mali, are a minority in the vast country. They have staged several uprisings in recent decades over what they say is neglect by Bamako.

On January 17, they launched their first rebellion since 2009, boosted by the return of heavily-armed battle-hardened fighters from Libya, who formerly served late dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Their forces have already taken several towns and scores of soldiers are said to have been killed and captured.

Angry soldiers revolted in Bamako Wednesday, leading to a full-blown coup by early Thursday as they seized government buildings and forced Toure to flee -- just five weeks before he was due to step down in a presidential election.

This opened the way for Tuareg rebel movement the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) and Islamist Tuareg group Ansar Dine to continue their bid to "liberate" the vast desert area they consider their homeland.

Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) said Saturday its fighters had surrounded one of the north's main towns where, they said, they would apply Islamic sharia law.

"Thanks to Allah the almighty and his blessings, we will soon take our land in Kidal," said a statement from the group.

The MNLA has distanced itself from any religious statements.

Mali will on Monday will mark the 21st anniversary of the last coup, when Toure led the overthrow of dictator Moussa Traore and steered the country to its first democratic election a year later for which he is considered a hero.

After Mali's democratic advances in the past two decades, Thursday's coup alarmed the international community which reacted with swift condemnation.

The African Union temporarily suspended Mali, while Europe and Canada froze aid and the United States has threatened to follow suit.

A joint mission from the African Union and Economic Community of West African States met representatives of the junta on Friday, according to Mali state television, without giving further details.

ECOWAS heads of state will hold an emergency meeting in Abidjan on Tuesday, the day the junta has called for civil servants to return to work.