UN Security Council to meet Monday as France expands Mali air strikes
France has called a Monday meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict in Mali, an official said Sunday.
“The Security Council will meet on Monday at 12 noon at France’s request to discuss the situation in Mali,” said a spokesman for the French UN mission.
Word of the high-level gathering came as French jets pounded the Islamist strongholds of Gao and Kidal in the north of the African country, forcing insurgents to flee on the third day of a game-changing intervention that has been met with relief by the population and spurred the region into action.
“Stopping the terrorists — it’s done,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. “Today we started taking care of the terrorists’ rear bases.”
French President Francois Hollande said the intervention had halted the southward rebel advance seen as threatening the capital Bamako, but stressed France’s mission was not over.
More: UN Security Council to Meet Monday on Mali: Official - French News