Mali coup inspires world condemnation

BAMAKO, Mali -- African and Western leaders Wednesday condemned the junta that forced Mali's president from power, warning that the coup was a deep setback for the West African nation that could threaten the battle against Islamic extremism.

Soldiers calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People promised that they would ultimately hand power to a transitional civilian government but gave no timeline. Junta members urged Malians to return to business as usual.

A day earlier, armed soldiers fired into the air outside President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's home and took him into their custody. A distressed Keita announced his resignation on television.

Condemnation of the coup was strong and swift from many quarters, reflecting international concern about instability in Mali and West Africa more broadly amid increasing attacks by Islamic extremists and the ensuing economic fallout, which has been among the drivers of illegal migration to Europe.

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The African Union suspended Mali from the bloc and demanded the release of Keita and other detained government officials. Former colonizer France, which has worked to stabilize the country since leading a 2013 military operation to oust extremists from power in the north, called for an immediate return to civilian rule. The United States denounced the coup and urged dialogue.

The West African bloc ECOWAS said it would stop all economic, trade and financial flows and transactions between member-states and Mali.

Ahead of a closed meeting on Mali, the U.N. Security Council "urged those mutineers to release safely and immediately all the officials detained and to return to their barracks without delay." The U.N. is spending $1.2 billion a year on a peacekeeping mission in the country.

"The priority is to not lose the fight against terrorism," said a French official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be publicly named in accordance with official policy.

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Tuesday's developments "represent an enormous setback" after seven years of investment by international partners to address Mali's insecurity and political challenges, said Judd Devermont, the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The country "is going to be paralyzed by the political jockeying over the future, and our ability to work with the government and security services are going to be undercut and restrained," he said. "This intermediary period is really dangerous for the region's security."

Mali was long hailed as a pillar of stability and democracy in West Africa, but it has been beset by violence and instability since 2012, when a coup created a power vacuum that Islamic extremists took advantage of.

Information for this article was contributed by Krista Larson, Angela Charlton and Edith M. Lederer of The Associated Press.