Opposition supporters celebrated at Independence Square in Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday on hearing news of soldiers mutinying against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Joe Davies reports.
Opposition supporters celebrated on the streets of Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday (August 18), after hearing the news of soldiers mutinying against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Gunfire was heard in the morning at an army base outside Bamako, a Malian military spokesman confirmed.
According to a security source and an official in the prime minister's office, mutineering soldiers rounded up a number of senior civilians and military officials from the capital and drove them back to their base.
Neither source said who the officials were or how many had been arrested.
Unconfirmed rumors that the mutineers had arrested President Keita swept Bamako, prompting hundreds of anti-government protesters to pour into a central square to celebrate and to call for his resignation.
"This is a memorable day for the youth of Mali, as you can see yourself." "We are tired, the country is paralysed and I do not want this government." Protesters ransacked and set fire to the private law office of Mali's Minister of Justice, after rumours filtered through that the military was staging a coup.
France's foreign minister condemned the mutiny - and urged the soldiers to return to their barracks.
The United States said on Friday it had suspended cooperation with Mali's military in response to the overthrow of the president,..