Mali rebels seize Timbuktu

Desert rebels fighting Mali's military junta have seized the ancient trading city of Timbuktu the last remaining government bastion in the north of the country.

The Tuareg force planted its flag in the ancient city, a day after it took control of the garrison town of Gao, which hosts the largest military base in Mali's north. The Azawad National Liberation Movement has capitalised on the lack of national authority after a coup last month when Mali army officers ousted the president, Amadou Toure.

It came shortly after Capt Amadou Sanogo, the coup's leader, said that he would reinstate the 1992 constitution and hold elections, after receiving a 72-hour deadline by Mali's neighbours to do so or face sanctions.

Soldiers in Gao surrendered on Saturday on the orders of Capt Sanogo.

On Friday, the rebels took Kidal, the regional capital. If Timbuktu falls, they rebels will control most of Mali's Sahara desert region.

They have vowed to rule the area with Islamists in opposition to the junta in Bamako, the national capital. The city of Timbuktu, famous for its mud-walled mosques, is more than 1,000 years old and was the main trading centre for Tuareg nomads bringing salt from the desert, and selling ivory and slaves. Once a centre of learning, the town, with 50,000 people, has become synonymous with mythical places, with a third of Britons even unaware that it is a real place, according to a recent survey.

The Tuareg revolutionaries have been boosted by Malian mercenaries returning from Libya after the death of President Gaddafi, whom they supported.

Capt Sanogo's troops wrested control from President Toure because they said he was not focused on putting down the rebellion.