Zimbabwean foreign minister marooned in Mali after coup

ZIMBABWE'S Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is marooned in a hotel in the Malian capital after troops in the West African country staged a coup.

The government is making frantic efforts to evacuate Foreign Affairs minister Simbabrashe Mumbengwgwi and other government officials stranded in Mali following a coup.

A senior government officila assured Zimbabweans that Mr Mumbengegwi and the ministry officials were safe in their hotel.

"The government is in touch with the Zimbabwean delegation and is keenly observing the unfolding scenario and awaiting for more information on the state of security," said the official.

The official said his ministry was trying to "establish contact with the interim authority that is reported to have taken charge in a bid to have the Zimbabweans evacuated."

Mumbengegwi was attending an African Union meeting on peace and security in Bamako when renegade soldiers stormed the presidential palace on Thursday and ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Trudy Stevenson, Zimbabwe's ambassador in neighbouring Mali, said on Friday: "He's definitely still there. They can't leave the hotel, they are surrounded by armoured vehicles and there is a curfew. The airport and borders are closed."

Mumbengegwi is one of several African ministers caught up in the coup. On Thursday, Kenya confirmed it was drawing up plans to pull out its Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula.

On Thursday, a group of renegade Mali soldiers said they had seized power from an "incompetent regime," announcing on television the dissolution of state institutions and suspension of the Constitution.

The mutineers â€" calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy â€" announced they had deposed Toure hours after seizing the state broadcaster.