Mali crisis threat to Europe: EU

EU leaders yesterday said the crisis in Mali, where Islamists have seized control of much of the north of the country, was an "immediate threat" to Europe, and threatened to impose sanctions on the armed militia there.
It was the first time EU heads of state and government had pronounced collectively on the crisis, which broke out in March when soldiers toppled the president, leaving a power vacuum that enabled Tuareg rebels to take control of the north. Islamists, some allied with al-Qaeda, have since hijacked their revolt.