France has advised its nationals "whose presence is not essential" to leave Mali as Tuareg rebels sweep across the north of the country in the wake of a military coup, the Agence France Presse said Monday.

"It is recommended not to travel to Mali until further notice," said a statement on the French foreign ministry's travel advice website after the rebels last week seized several towns in the north, including Timbuktu.

Tuareg rebels claimed control of the legendary desert town of Timbuktu on Sunday, part of a dramatic push across northern Mali, as the disorganized junta indicated it was ready to cede power.

Tuareg rebels assisted by Islamist fighters have swept across much of northern Mali since renegade soldiers staged a coup on March 22, saying they were fed up with the government's handling of a Tuareg fight for an independent homeland.

Representatives from the junta that seized power in Mali said Saturday that the putschists agree with West African leaders on the need to swiftly restore constitutional order.

"On the main principles that they asked of us, we say that we agree. There should be a regular and normal constitutional life, and now we are going to discuss the way to establish this," said junta chief of staff Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly after meeting Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore.

Mali's embattled coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo has called for outside help as advancing Tuareg and Islamist fighters seized ground, including a key northern town, from overwhelmed soldiers.

The Mali army said early Saturday it had pulled its troops out of two towns in the country's northeast, hours after Tuareg separatist rebels forced them out of the strategic town of Kidal.

Mali's ousted leader Amadou Toumani Toure, whose whereabouts have been unknown since he was overthrown on March 22, on Wednesday told Agence France Presse he was safe in Bamako and not being held by the junta.

The president was chased out of power just five weeks before the end of his time in office ahead of elections on April 29 which have now been suspended by the junta and no fresh poll date fixed.

U.N. human rights Chief Navi Pillay on Wednesday urged Mali and Guinea Bissau to follow Senegal's lead in holding "free, fair and transparent" elections.

Congratulating Senegal for its peaceful March 25 presidential run-off, Pillay noted: "Mali also had a good record of democratic elections over the past two decades, and I hope it gets back on that track as soon as possible."

Businesses reopened and children returned to school Tuesday as Malians heeded a call by the junta to return to work, but the putschists faced further pressure as west African leaders held emergency talks.

The military rulers were trying to restore order as they fought off opprobrium at home and abroad for their ouster of President Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22 in anger over the regime's handling of a northern Tuareg rebellion.

The United States on Saturday warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Mali due to current "instability" after a military coup in the West African country.

"The situation on the ground remains fluid and unpredictable," cautioned the State Department in the travel warning, saying "law and order is not assured" in the wake of the unrest.

A Tuareg rebel group said Saturday it was on the verge of seizing Kidal, one of the main cities in Mali's north, taking advantage of a power vacuum in Bamako after a coup by mutinous soldiers.

"Thanks to Allah the almighty and his blessings, we will soon take our land in Kidal," according to a statement from Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine, which is fighting alongside the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA).

The coup against the Malian government was sparked by anger over its handling of an insurrection by Tuaregs, the impoverished Saharan nomads who were once known as the "masters of the desert."

Experts put the total number of Tuareg at between a million and 1.5 million, living on a territory nearly two million square kilometres (780,000 square miles) and comprising parts of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso.