MALI: Looting and vandalism reported in Bamako after soldiers declare power seizure, close borders.

Record ID: 861072

  • Title: MALI: Looting and vandalism reported in Bamako after soldiers declare power seizure, close borders.
  • Date: 23rd March 2012
  • Summary: BAMAKO, MALI (MARCH 22, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS STREET (MUTE) ARMY VEHICLES DRIVING ALONG (FILMED FROM BEHIND A CAR) (MUTE) BULLET SHELL ON ROAD NEAR LOOTED PETROL STATION (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (French) AIRPORT WORKER, IBRAHIMA KONTE, SAYING: "They (soldiers) came, they starting shooting bullets to make people leave so they can refill their tanks with unleaded and diesel, there look the concrete proof (showing bullets in his hand). PEOPLE ON MOTORBIKES LEAVING WITHOUT HAVING BEEN ABLE TO FILL UP
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mali, Mali
  • City:
  • Country: Mali
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA61E3509SW3BMRW30WO8JH0OP3
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Renegade Malian soldiers declared on state television on Thursday (March 22) they had seized power in the West African state in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.
    The coup has been fronted by soldiers of the rank of captain or lower and, if successful, will add a new layer of insecurity to a Saharan region battling al Qaeda agents and a flood of weapons trafficked from Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
    Heavy gunfire overnight was reported as soldiers attacked the Presidential palace.
    Shops were closed on Thursday, and many petrol stations were looted.
    "They (soldiers) came, they starting shooting bullets to make people leave so they can refill their tanks with unleaded and diesel, there look the concrete proof," said Ibrahima Konte, an airport worker from Bamako, showing bullets in his hands.
    The army has for weeks appealed to the government for better weapons to fight the northern Tuareg rebels, now bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fought on Gaddafi's side last year but have returned to Mali.
    Members of the newly formed National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR) read a statement after heavy weapons fire rang out around the presidential palace in the capital Bamako throughout the night.
    Former colonial power France said it was suspending security cooperation with Mali and urged constitutional order to be reestablished promptly, a call echoed by the European Union.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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