MALI-FRANCE-CONFLICT-QAEDA

French troops patrol on January 30, 2013 along the Niger river in the northern city of Gao, a key Islamist stronghold until it was retaken on January 26 by French and Malian troops in a major boost to the French-led offensive against the Al Qaeda-linked rebels, who have been holding Mali's vast desert north since last April. French troops on January 30 entered Kidal, the last Islamist bastion in Mali's north after a whirlwind Paris-led offensive, as France urged peace talks to douse ethnic tensions targeting Arabs and Tuaregs. AFP PHOTO/ SIA KAMBOU (Photo by Sia KAMBOU / AFP) (Photo by SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images)