Nearly a month after launching an offensive in Mali to drive out Islamist extremists, France yesterday mulled the withdrawal of its troops after asking the UN to prepare a peacekeeping force to take the baton.
France's 28-day-old intervention has largely driven the al-Qaeda-linked rebels to the remote mountains of the far northeast, along the Algerian border.
But French-led forces continue to come under attack in reclaimed territory, and with fears of a prolonged insurgency, Paris is keen to hand over the military burden.
France called Wednesday for a United Nations peacekeeping force to take over