Malians queued to stock up on petrol at garages around the capital yesterday after neighbours launched trade and diplomatic sanctions aimed at forcing the military junta to hand over power.

For long one of West Africa's most stable democracies, Mali has plunged into turmoil since a March 22 coup that led Tuareg rebels to seize half the country.

They have been joined by Islamists bent on imposing sharia law across the whole of the moderate Muslim state, now the latest security headache for a region battling al Qaeda agents and home-grown militant groups like Nigeria's Boko Haram.

Worried neighbours, including Ivory Coast and Niger, have told coup leaders to step down immediately.