Security is tightened following the coup d'etat in Mali (Photo: AFP)

The U.N. Security Council has condemned mutinous Malian soldiers for their "forcible seizure of power" from Mali's democratically elected government. In a statement late Thursday, the Council called for the soldiers to ensure the safety of President Amadou Toumani Toure and to return to their barracks.  The U.N. body also demanded the release of all Malian officials, and the immediate restoration of constitutional rule and Mali's government. The World Bank and the African Development Bank have frozen their development aids for Mali. The US also reviewed its annual aid to Mali worth nearly 140 million dollars. On Thursday, renegade soldiers declared a coup d'etat on Malian television, after seizing control of state broadcasting services and the presidential palace.  The soldiers said they acted because of the president's incompetence in fighting a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs in Mali's North.