750 French troops deployed in Mali
2013-01-15 11:33
Abu Dhabi - A total of 750 French troops have joined the
offensive against Islamist rebels in Mali where overnight strikes
"achieved their goal", French President Francois Hollande said in Abu
Dhabi on Tuesday.
"For now, we have 750 men and the number will
increase... so that as soon as possible we can leave the place to the African
forces," said Hollande during a visit to Peace Camp in Abu Dhabi, his
country's only military base in the region.
"France will continue to have ground and air
forces," Hollande said, adding that deployment of African forces in Mali
"will take at least a week".
"New strikes overnight achieved their goal," he
told reporters while touring the base.
French forces have, since Friday, been supporting an
offensive by Malian government troops against Islamist groups which have
controlled the north of the vast country since April 2012.
The military intervention has driven Islamists fighters from
their strongholds in the north but the rebels on Monday pushed farther into the
government-held south, seizing the town of Diabali, 400km north of the capital.
Hollande flew early on Tuesday into the oil-rich United Arab
Emirates where soon after his arrival held talks with Mauritanian President
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in Abu Dhabi.
Mauritania, Mali's western neighbour, ordered its troops to
seal the border to prevent Islamists fighters from escaping into their
territory.
Hollande was to hold meetings with the rulers and senior
officials from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi during his one-day visit.
On the presidential plane that left Paris late on Monday,
Hollande's entourage said that some 700 soldiers in the French base in Abu
Dhabi along with six Rafale jets stationed there were on alert if needed to
participate in the Mali offensive.
"Mali is still not in our field of action for now ... [but]
if we receive orders, we will implement them," said an official at the
base.
