< p>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is condemning the arrest and forced resignation of Mali's prime minister and threatening to impose targeted sanctions against those blocking a return to constitutional order and undermining stability in the west African nation.

The council said in a statement Tuesday that the arrest of Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra by Malian soldiers violates Security Council resolutions calling on the armed forces to stop interfering in the work of transitional authorities in the country.

The Security Council called on President Dioncounda Traore "to swiftly reappoint an inclusive government of national unity."

The council urged Mali's transitional authorities to expedite a political dialogue leading to elections and stressed its commitment "to authorizing as soon as possible the deployment of an African-led international support mission in Mali."