<span style="color: #222222;">Ivory Coast's National Security Council on Tuesday called on the Malian authorities to immediately release 49 Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali. Mali's military government in a statement said that its forces had captured 49 soldiers who had come into the country from the neighboring Ivory Coast with the intent to stage a coup.<br />''<br />''Terming the soldiers as mercenaries, the Malian authorities said, they had landed in Bamako, the capital, on Sunday without permission. The soldiers were carrying weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment, according to the government statement.<br />''<br />''However, Ivory Coast contested Mali's claims. It said no Ivorian soldier from this contingent was in possession of weapons and ammunition when he got off the plane. The weapons of the contingent, as authorized by the United Nations for personal protection and self-defense cases and according to the procedures in the matter, were in a second plane.</span><br />