“We want to believe that the military junta can be trusted, and on that basis we have lifted the sanctions. And it would be dangerous for them to renege on their commitment to ECOWAS because I can't possibly see how a member state can live in isolation of its neighbours that's not possible, particularly against the background of the political, the economic and the financial sanctions,” he stated.

Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure submitted his resignation Sunday, weeks after being toppled by the coup. He said he stepped down without pressure and out of love for the country. The former Malian leader is said to be in exile in Dakar, Senegal.

“I think the decision taken by ECOWAS and the international community is the best. It's necessary that Mali continues in the provisions of its constitution of February 1992. As a consequence, I think it's normal and I do it without any pressure at all and I do it in good faith and most of all for the love I have for this country.”

Under a deal reached Friday, former Malian speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore will serve as president with a transitional government until elections are held. Mr Traore is expected to be sworn in as caretaker president this week.

ECOWAS pledged to help Mali fight the Tuareg rebels who have seized much of the country's north and proclaimed an independent state there following the military coup.

The coup leaders who justified their takeover by denouncing what they said was the former government's ineffectual campaign to suppress the Tuareg rebellion. The junta further rejected the intervention of foreign troops in the rebel-held north - and hinted at his continuing role in ruling the country.

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said the United States commends the leadership of ECOWAS for brokering the agreement with the junta leaders and fully restoring civilian rule. She said the United States will watch in the coming days to see if enough progress has been made to restore aid.

The U.S. State Department evacuated all Peace Corps volunteers Sunday and offered all non-essential diplomatic personnel flights out of the country. U.S. officials say the situation in Mali remains fluid and unpredictable. It also says there is a threat of kidnappings and attacks against Westerners in the north.

Mali's neighbours all criticized both the military coup and the new “Azawad” state declared by the northern rebels, who got help from the radical Islamist group Ansar Dine.

The self-styled National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad controls the cities of Timbuktu, Gao and other areas in the north. It declared its independence Friday and said its military campaign is over. The heavily armed Tuaregs, formerly based in Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, began fighting in northern Mali in January.