Moussa Ba, the president of the council’s youth league, said that the prime minister’s decision to not step aside for the transformation of a unity government is hampering efforts to reclaim the north, and he must work with the president to form such a transition.

A 3,000-member military intervention force assembled by the West African regional bloc is awaiting a formal request for intervention from Mali’s interim president, Dioncounda Traore, who will make the request once the unity government is formed, according to officials.


The bloc gave the country until Aug. 10 to form a unity government. 

--more--" 

And since that didn't happen.... 

"France to send drones to Mali region" Associated Press, October 23, 2012

PARIS — France will move surveillance drones to West ­Africa and is holding secretive talks with US officials in Paris this week as it seeks to steer international military action to help Mali’s feeble government win back the northern part of the country from Al Qaeda-linked rebels. 

I'm sorry, readers, but I've got to go the the crapper after seeing that term so much.

France and the United ­Nations insist that any invasion of Mali’s north be led by ­African troops.

But France, which has six hostages in Mali and has ­citizens who have joined Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is playing an increasing role behind the scenes.

Related: Militants say hostages imperiled in Mali

Many in the West fear that northeast Mali and the arid Sahel region could become a no-man’s-land where extremists can train, impose hard-line Islamic law, and plot terror attacks abroad.

That's what it will become once the drones start dropping missiles. 

As for the plotting and plans, pfffft. 

And France, former ­colonial ruler to countries across the Sahel, is a prime target. 

Yes, EMPIRES NEVER FORGIVE or FORGET! 

‘‘This is actually a major threat — to French interests in the region, and to France itself,’’ said Francois Heisbourg, an expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a partially state-funded think tank in Paris. 

Translation: If a FALSE FLAG occurs in FRANCE it will be blamed on Mali! 

Cui bono?

‘‘This is like Afghanistan 1996. This is like when [Osama] bin Laden found a place that was larger than France in which he could organize training camps, in which he could provide stable preparations for organizing far-flung terror attacks.’’

I wonder if the Eiffel Tower will drop into it's own footprint like the WTC.

--more--"

Related:

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Algeria’s assistance on Monday for any future military intervention in Mali, pressing the North African nation to provide intelligence — if not boots on the ground — to help rout the Al Qaeda-linked militants across its southern border."

Just building up to it. 

"Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra's resignation comes as the United States, European countries, and regional powers are readying a military force to intervene in Mali’s north, where radical Islamists have created a jihadist haven for Al Qaeda militants and other extremists."

Also see:  UN OK’s military action to oust Al Qaeda cohort in Mali