Hollande in Mali to push handover

President Francois Hollande yesterday received a rapturous welcome as he visited Mali to push for African troops to take over a French-led offensive that drove back Islamist rebels from the country's desert north.
The French leader's whirlwind tour came as troops worked to secure Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who seized control last year after a coup, raising fears that an area larger than France could become a safe haven for al-Qaeda-linked fighters.
Welcoming Hollande, thousands of people gathered in the central square of the fabled city of Timbuktu, dancing to the beat of drums -- a forbidden activity during the extremists' 10-month occupation.
Hollande told the crowd France's mission was not finished yet but that African countries would soon have to take over.
"We have no intention to stay. Our African friends will be able to do the job we've been doing until now," he told the crowd.
Hollande, whose surprise decision to intervene in Mali three weeks ago made him a hero in the former French colony, was greeted with cheers of "Long live France! Long live Hollande!"
With the rebels ousted from all major towns but Kidal, France is keen to hand over to nearly 8,000 African troops slowly being deployed and which the United Nations is considering turning into a formal UN peacekeeping force.