US urges return to constitutional rule in Mali

Renegade soldiers said they had ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure in a coup.The United States strongly condemns the violence initiated by elements of the armed forces of Mali, the White House added in a statement.Washington called for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule... including full civilian authority over the armed forces and respect for the countrys democratic institutions and traditions.Calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy, Mali troops earlier fought their way into the presidential palace and forced Toure to flee.The soldiers said they acted due to governments inability to put down a Tuareg-led insurrection in the north, and claimed on television to have ousted an incompetent regime and dissolved state institutions.The United States stands by the people of Mali and the legitimately elected government, the White House said, welcoming statements by the African Union condemning what it called an unconstitutional seizure of power.--AFP