Mali coup leader to give up power Amadou Sanogo pictured earlier this week. His refusal to step aside triggered sanctions against Mali Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images The junior officer who seized control of Mali in a coup last month has signed an accord to return the country to constitutional rule. The announcement by Captain Amadou Sanogo was made late on Friday night, only hours after separatist rebels in the country's north declared their independence. Sanogo emerged from his office inside the military barracks that has served the de facto seat of government for the past 16 days, ever since he and his men stormed the presidential palace, reversing over two decades of democratic rule. Flanked by the ministers of neighboring nations, he read out the accord, which states that under Article 36 of Mali's constitution the head of the national assembly becomes interim president in the event of a vacancy of power. "In the event of the vacancy of the president of the republic for whatever reason, or due to any absolute and definitive impediment," Sanogo said, "the functions of the president of the republic will be exercised by the president of the National Assembly." However, the accord did not say when the head of the assembly will assume the post, or how long the transition will last before new elections are held. Dioncounda Traore, the head of the assembly, fled Mali on 21 March, the day that mutinous soldiers led by Sanogo seized control of the nation. Article 36 of the constitution says that elections should be held in no more than 40 days. The accord stated that the timeframe will likely need to be extended, due to the rebellion which has turned the northern half of the country into a war zone. The declaration was welcomed by Djibril Bassole, foreign minister of Burkina Faso, who flanked Sanogo while he read the accord. Bassole said afterwards that the nations bordering Mali had agreed to lift the crippling sanctions which went into effect earlier this week, including the closure of the country's borders. Landlocked Mali imports all its fuel, and already many neighborhoods in the capital Bamako had only 12 hours of electricity per day. A senior official who was involved in the negotiations said that Traore was likely to fly back as early as Saturday. He said that the accord means that Sanogo, who just days ago had stubbornly refused to step aside, has finally chosen to put the country back on a democratic path. However, a Western diplomat in Bamako said he hoped for the best, but worried that Sanogo could still make a U-turn. Neither the official nor the diplomat could be named because they had not been authorised to speak to the media. "We have to take a wait-and-see approach," the diplomat said. I certainly hope it's true and that the country goes back to civilian rule so that Mali can get back on its feet. The news comes just hours after Mali's Tuareg rebels, who seized control of the country's distant north in the chaotic aftermath of the coup in the capital, declared independence Friday of their Azawad nation. "We, the people of the Azawad," they said in a statement published on the rebel website, "proclaim the irrevocable independence of the state of the Azawad starting from this day, Friday, April 6, 2012."