Kuwait Islamists protest Mali military intervention

Dozens of Kuwaiti Islamists gathered outside the French embassy on Monday to protest against a military intervention in Mali, calling on Gulf leaders not to support the operation. Protesters chanted slogans and carried banners calling on France to halt its operation against Islamists in the African country, condemning "the bloodshed of Muslims in Mali." A large number of security forces were stationed outside the embassy building on the outskirts of Kuwait City, but the protest ended without incident. The Arab Gulf state has not made any official comment on the French operation but on Monday the cabinet condemned "terrorist action" in Algeria. Islamists took a number of foreign and Algerian hostages at a gas plant in the Sahara desert last week demanding an end to France's Mali operation, in a siege which ended with the deaths of almost 40 captives. French and Malian troops on Monday recaptured the key towns of Diabaly and Douentza in a major boost to their drive to rout Al-Qaeda-linked rebels holding the country's vast, arid north.