UN Condemns Mali Coup, World Bank Stops Aid
The UN Security Council has condemned the coup in Mali while top officials said fallout from the Libya civil war had increased the frustration of soldiers who ousted the president. Security Council members "strongly condemn the forcible seizure of power from the democratically-elected government of Mali by some elements of the Malian armed forces," said a council statement. The 15-nation body called on the soldiers "to ensure the safety and security of President Amadou Toumani Toure and to return to their barracks." The council demanded "the release of all detained Malian officials" and the "immediate restoration of constitutional rule and the democratically elected government," said the statement read to reporters by Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, the council president, for March. Al Jazeera's Azhar Sukri reports.