Mali soldiers fire gunshots, occupy state TV

BAMAKO - Malian soldiers occupied Malian national television ORTM in the capital on Wednesday and fired into the air to show their displeasure over treatment of a conflict in the north of the country, a local Xinhua correspondent said.

The soldiers went on demonstration from a military camp 15 km from the capital Bamako, and fired gunshots before storming the state broadcaster which then halt its programs, the correspondent said.

Defence minister General Sadio Gassama went there to negotiate with the soldiers and make an account report on the situation in the north.

According to sources, the demonstration came as the soldiers vented their growing anger at the government's mismanagement of the crisis caused by a Tuareg armed rebellion in the north of the country.