2012年4月5日星期四

And they are right

Deputy Ivorian Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi louis vuitton handbags said military action is being considered both to reverse the coup that deposed Mali's president last month, as well as to preserve Mali's territorial integrity after the rebel advance in the north.

He instructed the army chiefs of the 15 countries in West Africa to draft a detailed plan, including how many troops each intends to send, how quickly they could ready them and what logistical means they plan to contribute.

In Paris, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France is ready to help African forces on a logistical level.

The chief of staff of the French army, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, travelled on Thursday to Burkina Faso to discuss details with the president.

The rebels launched their insurgency in January, saying they wanted to establish an independent Tuareg homeland in the north, known as the Azawad.

They succeeded only in taking small towns until March 21, gucci bags when disgruntled soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the distant capital of Bamako, overthrowing the democratically elected president.

In the confusion that followed the coup, the rebels launched a new offensive and succeeded in taking the capitals of the three main northern provinces, including Kidal, which fell last Friday, Gao on Saturday and Timbuktu on Sunday.

"The NMLA has reached the end of its military operations for the liberation of the territory of the Azawad," said Assarid, speaking by telephone from Paris.

"Since the day before yesterday when our units reached Douentza which we consider to be the frontier of the Azawad," he said, referring to a town some 600 kilometres from Bamako, "the military offensive is declared over".

Assarid's group is the largest rebel group involved in the offensive, but it is not the only one, and in the three main towns in the north, local officials say they cannot be sure which of the rebel armies has the upper hand.

Foreign observers have expressed concern over the presence of an Islamist faction called Ansar Dine, which planted its ominous black flag in all three of the provincial capitals.

This week, the group announced it was imposing Sharia in the ancient city of Timbuktu.

The mayor of Timbuktu said nearly all of the estimated 300 Christians based in the city fled after Ansar Dine's spiritual chief Iyad Ag Ghali gave an interview on local radio outlining the tenets of Islamic law: Women are to be covered at all times, thieves will have their hands cut off and adulterers will be stoned.

"The problem for us is that we don't know who is the master of our town," said the mayor, Ousmane Halle, explaining that the Islamist faction had taken over the city's louis vuitton ring military camp, while the NMLA was stationed at the airport.

"What I deplore is the departure of the Christian community," he said.

The city has been honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its collection of ancient Islamic manuscripts, propagating a moderate interpretation of the religion.

"Many said to me that they are obliged to leave," he said.

"And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And Buy louis vuitton sunglasses for women 2012 best style pink discount these are people that have lived side by side with us for centuries."

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