Mali government investigators have travelled to a remote central town to probe why troops shot dead a group of 16 Muslim men.
Mali’s government ordered an immediate investigation after 16 suspected militants were shot dead at a checkpoint in the country’s central region.
With authorities failing to stand up to the aggression of invading extremist groups, Malians are forming rag-tag militias to defend their homes.
Three Westerners, including a South African man, abducted nearly nine months ago by al-Qaeda in Mali have urged their governments to help free them.
Mali’s interim president Dioncounda Traore has "renewed his confidence" in controversial transition prime minister Cheick Modibo Diarra.
France’s Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has stated that France would back an African lead military intervention in Islamist-held northern Mali.
Extremist groups – linked to al-Qaeda – have used their hold over key urban areas of Mali to recruit, arm and train a growing number of fighters.
The AU policy talks in Ethiopia have been governed by discussions on terrorists in Mali, reconciliation in Sudan and the AU commission leadership.
Regional jigsaw pieces are too out of sync for Mali to be able to settle once and for all its internal problems, writes Abdelkader Abderrahmane.
West African leaders are growing ever more impatient with Mali’s political crisis, which has seen extremist rebels seize more than half its territory.
West African leaders urged Mali’s politicians on Saturday to urgently form a national unity government and request UN backing for troops.
Religious leaders have headed up a protest by over a 1 000 people in Mali’s capital after the destruction of historic religious sites at Timbuktu.
Mali’s national assembly has called for intervention as Islamists enforce Sharia law, destroy ancient shrines and trap residents with landmines.
The attacks by Islamist hardliners on tombs and mosques is ratcheting up the pressure in the south of Mali. Monica Mark reports.
Mali’s interim government has ramped up diplomatic efforts to save the north from militant fighters who have smashed shrines in Timbuktu.
Analysts warn that a military bid in Mali will fail but regional leaders fear the instability will spread. Liesl Louw-Vaudran reports from Dakar.
As an Islamic state called Azawad took root in the north of Mali, the interim president tasked with restoring unity was in a Paris hotel.
A contender for the goal of the competition from Arsenal forward Gervinho against Mali on Wednesday put Côte d’Ivoire into the Afcon final.
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/ 27 January 2012
The Africa Cup of Nations group D will serve up a second West African derby when Ghana face Mali on Saturday.