Troops enter last Mali bastion

French troops yesterday entered Kidal, the last Islamist bastion in Mali's north after a whirlwind Paris-led offensive, as France urged peace talks to douse ethnic tensions targeting Arabs and Tuaregs.
French troops arrived at the Kidal airport just days after the capture of Gao and Timbuktu in a whirlwind three-week campaign that Paris hopes to wind down and hand over to African forces.
France swept to Mali's aid on January 11 as the Islamists advanced south towards Bamako, sparking fears that the whole country could become a haven for terrorists, and now has 3,500 troops on the ground.
But in the longer term, Paris regards a political settlement between the government in Bamako and Tuaregs seeking a degree of self-rule as crucial to Mali's stability.
Meanwhile, after reports fleeing Islamists had torched a building housing priceless ancient manuscripts in the city, an expert said many had been smuggled away before the insurgency. He said more than 90 percent of the manuscripts have been saved.