BAMAKO (AFP) - Twenty-one bodies, believed to be those of soldiers close to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure, were found overnight on Tuesday in a mass grave near the Mali capital Bamako, judicial and security officials said.

"We have found 21 bodies, probably of 'red beret' soldiers, in a mass grave in Diago. The bodies were exhumed," a Malian justice ministry official said.

The information was confirmed by a security official.