Crisis Worsens In Mali As Rebels Take The Initive After A Military Coup Overthrows The Government

Mercenaries Who Fought For Gaddafi Behind Brutal Coup In Mali -- Daily Mail

* Last year Malian combatants who fought for Gaddafi, returned home and formed Tuareg-led rebel group - the Azawad National Liberation Movement
* Soldiers say they are overthrowing the government because of its weak response and mishandling of the ANLM in the country's north
* The presence of the al-Qaeda affiliate turns a local dispute into an international security issue
* Mali's neighbours, the United Nations and world powers from Paris to Washington called for a return to constitutional rule

Soldiers announced that they had seized control of Mali yesterday in an angry reaction to the government's weak response to an uprising of Gaddafi fighters in the country's north.

They ousted the president just one month before he was due to step down at the end of his legal term and said on national television they were suspending Mali's constitution, dissolving its institutions and imposing a nationwide curfew.

The soldiers had complained that the civilian government had not done enough to combat a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg separatists - Azawad National Liberation Movement - made up of Gaddafi fighters, who want to carve out a homeland in the country's northern desert.

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More News On The Crisis In Mali

Mali coup leaders forge ahead -- CNN
Tuareg rebels take Mali town, threaten 3 more -- AP
Tuareg Rebels Vow Push in Mali After Coup -- Voice of America
Tuareg rebels threaten Timbuktu -- SKY News
Mali mutineers loot, seek president as rebels advance -- Reuters
Mali coup leader Sanogo 'will not cling to power' -- BBC
Mali government leaders 'safe and sound': coup leader -- AFP
Mali coup draws wide condemnation -- The Guardian
AU: Mali’s President Safe After Coup -- Voice of America
AU suspends Mali until constitutional order returns -- AFP
International condemnation grows against Malian coup -- The Telegraph
EU suspends Mali development aid after coup -- AFP
Mali coup could jeopardize millions of dollars in U.S. aid -- L.A. Times
US holds off on cutting Mali aid despite coup -- SFGate/AP
Mali's Coup A Setback For A Young African Democracy -- Corey Flintoff, NPR
Coup threatens to plunge Mali back into the darkness of dictatorship -- Andy Morgan, The Guardian
Qaddafi and Al Qaeda: What’s Behind the Coup in Mali? -- Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker