African Union endorses Mali military intervention

The African Union has endorsed a plan for military intervention in Mali, where Islamists have seized control of the vast desert north, the AU's commissioner for peace and security said Tuesday. The AU Peace and Security Council "has decided to endorse a harmonised concept of operations for the planned deployment of AFISMA, which is the African-led mission in support of Mali," Ramtane Lamamra told reporters. On another note, the UN's representative in West Africa met Tuesday with a delegation from Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist groups currently occupying northern Mali, an AFP correspondent said. Said Djinnit met representatives of the al-Qaeda-linked group at a private residence in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, after earlier meeting Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, the region's chief mediator for the Mali crisis.