The president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has rejected an appeal for aid from the leader of a military coup in Mali, saying that the bloc would be willing to help only if constitutional normality is restored.

“ECOWAS is quite willing to assist the country to protect its territorial integrity, but we cannot do so when the power in place in Bamako is not legitimate … There is zero tolerance to power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means,” Kadre Desire Ouedraogo told Al Jazeera on Friday.

He also said that Captain Amadou Sanogo, the coup leader, must immediately step down and allow ECOWAS to organise a political transition.

“It is not for him [Sanogo] to [organise elections],” he said. “We want him to return to constitutional normality and then we can discuss a transition period and then organise the election according to the provisions of the Malian constitution.”

Ouedraogo added, however, that he was confident talks would take place with the coup leaders before the 72-hour ECOWAS deadline expired.

“We have indications that they want to continue dialogue and I think that this weekend they will be in touch to see how they are going to comply to the ECOWAS demands. But if by the deadline of Monday they have not done so, we have instruction to apply the sanctions,” he said.

ECOWAS had already suspended Mali on Tuesday and has warned its regional troops are on standby to intervene.

On Thursday, the bloc threatened a “diplomatic and financial embargo” unless constitutional order was restored within 72 hours – a move which could cripple the landlocked nation.

Appeal for aid

Earlier, Captain Sanogo had asked for external help to halt advancing Tuareg rebels in the north, who have seized another key northern town from overwhelmed soldiers.

The soldiers cited government failure to arm them to rein in the insurrection as the major reason for toppling the democratically elected government of President Amadou Toumani Toure.

“The rebels continue to attack our country and terrorise our people,” Sanogo told journalists on Friday at the military barracks outside the capital Bamako, which have become the junta’s headquarters.

“The situation is now critical, our army needs support from Mali’s friends to save the civilian population and protect Mali’s territorial integrity.”

The appeal came as sources said that Tuareg separatist rebels and an allied armed group on Friday entered and seized control of the strategic town of Kidal, 1,000km from the capital.

The Tuareg rebel Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) in mid-January relaunched a decades-old fight for the independence of what the Tuareg consider their homeland in the northern triangle of the bow-tie shaped nation.

The poorly-equipped Malian army has proved no match for the desert warriors, boosted by the return of heavily-armed fighters from Libya’s conflict.

The rebels have since seized on the confusion caused by the coup to launch offensives on the three regional centres in Mali’s remote north.

In their most important victory so far, they entered Kidal after soldiers abandoned one of the two local military camps there, military and diplomatic sources told the Reuters news agency.

“The rebel Tuareg, the MNLA, and fighters affiliated with AQIM, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, managed to easily overrun the city of Kidal,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra reported from Bamako on Friday.

“They are now in control of the city with some concerns now that they might move to the city of Gao. They are now in control of three cities, Tessalit, Aguelhok and Kidal. If they manage to control Gao, that is going to be quite a significant blow for the military junta,” he added.

‘Process of normalisation’

Regional leaders from ECOWAS had attempted to negotiate an end to the standoff, but their plane was turned back mid-flight on Thursday after dozens of pro-coup demonstrators swarmed the runway at Bamako’s airport, preventing them from landing.

At Friday’s news conference, Sanogo said he understood the position of the West Africa regional body, but added that stability in Mali would have a direct influence on the entire region.

He said the coup was a necessary step in order to improve the situation in the country, and that the army had seized control with the plan of “holding a rapid process of normalisation and organising free and transparent elections”.

Washington, which has warned the region was becoming a new hub for al-Qaeda, on Friday supported ECOWAS’ efforts to force the junta to step down but said it was “very concerned” by the latest Tuareg advances.