Mali's National Committee for the Redressment of Democracy and the State (CNRDR) announced on Thursday that it has decided to close all Mali's terrestrial and aerial borders.

In its second statement issued on Thursday, the CNRDR also asked the soldiers to stop shooting in the air either as a way of warning the public or as a way of expressing their joy.

In the statement, the committee's spokesman Lieutenant Amadou Konare asked the soldiers, especially those who have not yet joined CNRDR, to join it immediately.

Further, CNRDR announced that Mali's administrators will be expected to resume their duties on Tuesday March 27 at 7:30 a.m and that any absence will be considered as abandoning duty.

The CNRDR also asked the secretaries general of various ministries to ensure smooth running of normal affairs before the formation of a new government.

Mutinous soldiers have seized power in Mali after storming the president palace and arresting some of the government ministers, a spokesman for the mutinous soldiers said Thursday.

In a televised speech, Amadou Konare announced the end of President Amadou Toumani Toure government, whose power would be handed over to the next one.

Institutions have been dissolved and the constitution suspended, Konare said, adding that the presidential election would be held when time is ripe.

A national curfew has also been imposed.

So far, there is no report on the whereabouts of President Toure.