Ousted Mali President At Senegal’s Embassy in Bamako

Mali's ex-President Amadou Toumani Toure is at the Senegalese Embassy in the Malian capital of Bamako, Senegal President Macky Sall said Wednesday.

The announcement came during a press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

President Amadou Toumani Toure [is] at this moment on the territory of the residence of the Embassy of Senegal in Bamako, Sall said.

A March 22 military coup forced Toure from power, and he then resigned on April 8 in exchange for the military's promise to yield to a civilian authority.

His whereabouts were until now unknown.

Sall also raised the issue of the arrests former government officials by the Malian military. Former Prime Minister Modibo Sidi and former minister and leader of the West African Economic and Monetary Union Soumalia Cisse have been arrested and detained in Kati, near Bamako, where the coup leaders established their headquarters, the BBC reports.

Ex-Defense Minister Sadio Gassama and the head of Toure's bodyguard regiment, Gen. Hamidou Sissoko, are also in military custody.

Unfortunately last night [Tuesday] there were new developments with the arrests of certain dignitaries ... and others who were arrested, who we hope will be immediately freed, Sall said.

Sall praised the efforts of West African leaders and the Economic Community of West African States to restore Mali to normalcy.

The diplomatic efforts by ECOWAS supported by our European partners, including France, allowed for a return to normal constitutional life, in Mali, AFP quotes him as saying.

This is a troubling situation, he added. West African leaders are trying to find a rapid and peaceful solution first of all internally so we can return to the normal constitutional regime and then deal with the partition of Mali.

Coup leaders cited the Toure government's ineffectual response to a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs who are now in control of the northern half of the country.

The Tuareg rebellion, calling itself the Azawad National Liberation Movement, took advantage of the coup and has since declared autonomy for the northern desert region, a move condemned by the international community.

Dioncounda Traore, leader of Mali's largest political party, Alliance for Democracy in Mali, was inaugurated as interim president last Thursday. It is uncertain if he will meet his 40-day deadline to organize new elections in the face of the secession war in the north.

Sall, newly elected himself, is in Paris to strengthen ties between Senegal and France, its former colonial ruler. He and Sarkozy signed a defense treaty and agreed to a $170 billion French loan to Senegal, Voice of America reported.