Military junta declares it has seized control of Mali after coup Nigeria's president said the coup was a "setback for democracy in Africa" while Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General voiced his "deep concern" along with the European Union, the African Union and neighbouring Algeria, Mali's partner in the fight against local branches of al Qaeda. The United States said it "strongly condemns the violence," adding that it "stands by the people of Mali and the legitimately elected government of President Toure." There was no word from President Toure himself, who on Tuesday night said on Twitter that there was no coup, only a mutiny at an army base in Bamako. Yesterday afternoon, conflicting reports surfaced that he had escaped from the palace and was either taking refuge in a foreign embassy or at a military camp. The president is in Bamako, he is not at an embassy. He is in a military camp where he is in command," a military source told AFP, adding that he was under the guard of elite "Red Beret" paratroopers. Mali is currently fighting an insurgency by northern Tuareg separatists, many of whom fought for Colonel Gaddafi during the Libya conflict and have returned home heavily armed. The coup leaders are understood to be mainly rank-and-file soldiers who are angry at a perceived failure to give them proper weaponry to keep down the uprising. But according to a report by French radio station RFI, they were quick to take advantage of the unfolding chaos yesterday. "We have seen, in the east of Bamako, men dressed in military uniform systematically emptying small shops," the unnamed reporter said. Further south, we saw soldiers taking civilian vehicles by force. Little by little, the anger of the population is growing towards the military 'robbers'. Others reported seeing soldiers carrying televisions and other goods out of the presidential palace, which was partially in flames yesterday morning after a battle which is believed to have left several soldiers who were defending the palace dead. Fabien Offner, a journalist, said the streets were almost deserted, with banks, schools, petrol stations and administrative buildings closed. The statement by the coup leaders was playing on loop on state television. He said that anti-Touré soldiers appeared to be almost entirely in control of the capital. "Most of the gunfire we're now hearing in Bamako is soldiers firing in the air," he added. But it's not clear whether fighting between pro- and anti-Touré soldiers outside the city has stopped yet. Gilles Yabi, West Africa expert with the International Crisis Group, said that to gain any legitimacy, the soldiers would have to begin reaching out to political parties not previously associated with the regime. "In a country like Mali, when one knows how calm Bamako usually is, this is quite alarming," he said. Mali is one of the countries in West Africa which has a good experience of democratic elections.