The army has for weeks appealed to the government for better weapons to fight the northern Tuareg rebels, now bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fought on Gaddafi's side last year but have returned to Mali.
Members of the newly formed National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR) read a statement after heavy weapons fire rang out around the presidential palace in the capital Bamako throughout the night.
"The CNRDR ... has decided to assume its responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Toure," said Lieutenant Amadou Konare, spokesman for the CNRDR.
Not that this means getting rid of Khaddafi was morally wrong. Stuff happens. But if this blowback had happened with Bush behind the wheel, I think you know that the nuance crowd would be bitterly complaining about how desperately we need "smart diplomacy" in the White House.
But perhaps France will intervene. Paris considers that their backyard and they haven't been shy in the past about sending in the Foreign Legion.
