Mali coup leader has no intention to stay on

The coup leader in Mali, Amadou Sanogo said he would stand down after making sure the army, which is fighting ethnic-Tuareg rebels in the north, was able to secure the country.

He also said former leaders would be transferred to the justice system, but the president is not believed to be in the custody of the mutineers.

The self-declared leader of a military coup in Mali appeared in a recorded interview on state television to call for calm, and deny reports that soldiers had looted petrol stations and hijacked cars in the capital, Bamako.

"I call on all Malians to stop the pillaging. The acts of vandalism are not from our soldiers. It is not their mission, it is not their fight," said Amadou Sanogo, an army captain, in the interview broadcast late on Friday.

"You can buy a [soldier's] uniform in the market. What makes you think it is not other people who are doing this to damage the image of our cause?" Sanogo added.

The situation remained tense and confused, with reports of sporadic gunfire in the capital, 48 hours after the coup against President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Rumours swirled of an imminent counter-coup led by Toure loyalists and that Sanogo had been killed, a suggestion denied on state TV.

Although most shops, petrol stations and businesses were closed in Bamako, some residents ventured out in search of necessities.

The unrest began on Wednesday as the country's defence minister started a tour of military barracks north of the capital.

Soldiers upset with the government's handling of the Tuareg rebellion who have been fighting since mid-January for an independent north, fired in the air during the inspection, prompting an immediate strengthening of security around the presidential palace.

Officers led by Sanogo toppled Toure on Thursday because, they said, his government had not adequately supported the Malian army's fight against the advancing rebellion in the north. The Tuaregs have forced the army out of several northern towns in recent months.

But the coup leaders looked isolated as a coalition of political parties condemned the coup and called for new elections, which had previously been scheduled for April. Meanwhile, the African Union has suspended Mali from its ranks.