- The reason for the postponement is unclear
- Military leaders planned to invite political parties and civilian representatives
- The delay comes amid a widening crisis
- Rebels take control of towns in northern Mali
(CNN) -- Military leaders who overthrew Mali's president postponed plans to hold a national convention Thursday aimed at addressing political woes and determining the direction of the country.
The reason for the postponement was unclear.
Military leaders planned to invite political parties and civilian representatives to the convention, said Capt. Amadou Sanogo, the junta leader.
The delay comes amid a widening crisis after renegade soldiers in the capital of Bamako overthrew the nation's democratically elected leader late last month, plunging the country into chaos.
The international community, including West African states, the African Union and the United States condemned the military coup and called for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule.
The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have slapped the military junta with travel and economic restrictions, and frozen its assets.
ECOWAS also imposed a diplomatic and financial embargo, said Alassane Ouattara, the body's chairman and president of neighboring Ivory Coast.
"All diplomatic, economic, financial measures and others ... will not be lifted until the re-establishment of constitutional order," Ouattara said.
Sanctions targeted the supporters and relatives of the military junta and all those involved in contributing to the "destabilization" of Mali, the African Union said.
Under the sanctions, five neighboring nations will close their borders to landlocked Mali except for humanitarian purposes and deny the nation access to their ports, freeze its accounts in regional banks and suspend its participation in cultural and sporting events.
Militant rebels capitalized on the chaos that ensued after the coup, advancing on strategic towns in the north, including the ancient city of Timbuktu.
Rebels have said they are in control of Timbuktu -- a major blow to the coup leaders. Before the Timbuktu announcement, the Tuareg rebels said over the weekend that they had seized the key town of Gao hundreds of miles from the capital.
The fall of both towns marks a major prize for the fighters seeking to wrest control of the region to make it their homeland. It also intensifies the crisis in the West African nation after soldiers ousted the president over what they said is his inability to handle the Tuareg rebellion in the north.
In a statement during the coup, the soldiers accused President Amadou Toumani Toure of "incapacity" in battling the rebels, saying he did not equip them with the means to quash the growing Tuareg insurgency.
Before Tuareg and Islamic rebels took control of northern towns, Mali was hailed as a shining example of African stability after experiencing more than 20 years of democratic government.
The impoverished country now has no access to the sea and is heavily dependent on foreign aid.
