Mali Coup Leader Pledges Safe Return of African Ministers

Mali's coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo has pledged the safe release of three top African foreign officials stranded in Bamako after the putsch, an African Union source said Saturday.

AU Commission chief Jean Ping spoke to Sanogo on the phone on Friday and was assured the foreign ministers of Kenya and Zimbabwe, as well as a Tunisian secretary of state in charge of Arab and African affairs would return safely.

"Captain Amadou assured the chairperson (Ping) of two things: the protection of the ministers and their collaborators and diplomats and to facilitate their evacuations," said the source, speaking to AFP on the condition of anonymity.

Kenya's Foreign Minster Minister Moses Wetangula, his Zimbabwean counterpart Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Tunisia's Abdallah Triki were stranded in Bamako following Thursday's coup.

Kenya has chartered a plane in Ivory Coast to collect Wetangula and Mumbengegwi, while the Tunisian official and diplomats will be picked up by a chartered Tunisian plane, the source added.

It was however unclear when the evacuations will take place.

Rebel soldiers calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy seized control of the capital, accusing the government of failing to tackle terrorism and put down a Tuareg-led insurrection in the north.

The AU on Friday suspended Mali until the return of a constitutional order and sent a joint delegation with the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.

Malian President Toure was forced to flee following the coup and his whereabouts remain unclear, although coup leaders said Friday he is "safe and sound" and remains in Mali.