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Girls walk to class at a secondary school in the Malian capital Bamako, January 14, 2013. The Malian government had shut public schools in Bamako and the military garrison town of Kati on January 9 due to growing insecurity, but a French-backed military offensive against Islamists in the north of the country has renewed confidence in the security of the cities. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A resident looks at newspapers' frontpages focusing on France's military intervention to turn back the terrorist threat in Mali on January 14, 2013 in Bamako. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

Young men play football in Bamako, Mali, Tuesday Jan. 15 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A motorcyclist waves his support as French troops in two armored personnel carriers drive through Mali's capital Bamako on the road to Mopti Tuesday Jan. 15, 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Flight crew Flight Lt Chris Knight and Flight Lt Chris Coates fly a Royal Air Force C-17 aircraft to Evreux in northern France, January 14, 2013. Britain is lending logistical support to France as it sends troops and military equipment to Mali. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

Members of the Royal Air Force sit alongside French armoured personnel carriers as they land to deliver them to Bamako, Mali, January 15, 2013. The Royal Air Force is lending logistical support to France as it sends forces to Mali. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

English soldiers are seen inside a British army Boeing C-17 cargo aircraft arriving from the British Brize Norton base and en route to Bamako, on January 13, 2013 at the Evreux military Base. Britain supports France's decision to send troops to support an offensive by Mali government forces against Islamist rebels. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images

A French military armoured personnel carrier is loaded onto a Royal Air Force C-17 aircraft at Evreux in northern France, January 14, 2013. Britain is lending logistical support to France as it sends troops and military equipment to Mali. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

In this picture dated Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 and released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD), a French soldier of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment based in Le Mans, western France, prepares ammunition before distribution at Bamako airport, Mali. An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge. (AP Photo/Arnaud Roine, ECPAD)

French armoured vehicles make their way on a road north of Bamako in this photo provided by the French Army on January 16, 2013. French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. REUTERS/ECPAD/Arnaud Roine/Handout

This night vision photo provided by the ECPAD/French Army shows French military armored vehicles on Bamako airport, Tuesday, Jan.15, 2013. Islamists in Mali on Wednesday prevented residents from leaving the towns they are holding, and some fear they will be used as human targets by the extremists as French troops pressed forward to launch direct combat within hours. (AP Photo/Jeremy Lempin, ECPAD, EMA)

A Rafale fighter prepares for takeoff from the Saint Dizier airbase in central France before being deployed in Mali, in this picture provided by the French Military Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and taken on January 13, 2013. Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Mali launched a counter-offensive on Monday after three days of strikes by French fighter jets on their strongholds in the desert north, vowing to drag France into a long and brutal ground war. Photo taken January 13, 2013. Mandatory Credit. REUTERS/SGC/Laure-Anne Maucorps/ECPAD/Handout

A Rafale fighter is armed at the Saint Dizier airbase in central France before being deployed in Mali, in this picture provided by the French Military Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and taken on January 13, 2013. Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Mali launched a counter-offensive on Monday after three days of strikes by French fighter jets on their strongholds in the desert north, vowing to drag France into a long and brutal ground war. Photo taken January 13, 2013. Mandatory Credit. REUTERS/SGC. Laure-Anne Maucorps/ECPAD/Handout

In this picture dated Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 and released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) s French soldiers of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment based in Le Mans, western France, listen to their officer during a briefing at Bamako airport, Mali. An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge. (AP Photo/Arnaud Roine, ECPAD)

A French army officer (R) talks to his Malian counterpart outside where a meeting is taking place for the intervention force provided by the ECOWAS grouping of West African states, in Bamako January 15, 2013. France kept up its air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali as plans to deploy African troops gathered pace on Tuesday amid concerns that delays could endanger a wider mission to dislodge al Qaeda and its allies. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Malian President Dioncounda Traore (white scarf) and French ambassador to Mali Christian Rouyer visit French soldiers at an air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Malian soldiers listen as Mali's President Dioncounda Traore speaks at a Malian air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney

West African army chiefs from regional bloc ECOWAS attend a meeting in Bamako January 15, 2013. France kept up its air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali as plans to deploy African troops gathered pace on Tuesday amid concerns that delays could endanger a wider mission to dislodge al Qaeda and its allies. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A French soldier prepares his ammunitions on January 16, 2013 at the military airbase in Bamako, before his regiment's deployment as part of the "Serval" operation against Islamists occupying northern Mali. France has deployed 700 troops in and around Paris, Interior Minister Manuel Valls revealed Tuesday in the latest indicator of mounting concern over potential reprisals for military intervention in Mali. Leaders of the militant Islamist groups under attack in the West African state have warned that France has "opened the doors of hell" by unleashing its warplanes and have called on fellow extremists to hit back on French soil. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

French troops based at the 101 airbase near Bamako and journalists listen to Malian president Dioncounda Traore as he makes a welcome speech to the French troops on January 16, 2013. France has deployed 700 troops in and around Paris, Interior Minister Manuel Valls revealed Tuesday in the latest indicator of mounting concern over potential reprisals for military intervention in Mali. Leaders of the militant Islamist groups under attack in the West African state have warned that France has "opened the doors of hell" by unleashing its warplanes and have called on fellow extremists to hit back on French soil. ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images

French troops from the "Licorne" operation based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) arrive at the 101st military airbase near Bamako on January 15, 2013 to reinforce the "Serval" operations, before their deployment in the north of Mali.France has deployed 700 troops in and around Paris, Interior Minister Manuel Valls revealed Tuesday in the latest indicator of mounting concern over potential reprisals for military intervention in Mali. Leaders of the militant Islamist groups under attack in the West African state have warned that France has "opened the doors of hell" by unleashing its warplanes and have called on fellow extremists to hit back on French soil. ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images

A Malian soldier stands guard as Mali's President Dioncounda Traore visits French troops at an air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney

French soldiers listen as Malian President Dioncounda Traore speaks at a Malian air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. REUTERS/Joe Penney

This photo provided by the ECPAD/French Army shows a Rafale jet fighter refueling over Mali, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013. Islamists in Mali on Wednesday prevented residents from leaving the towns they are holding, and some fear they will be used as human targets by the extremists as French troops pressed forward to launch direct combat within hours. (AP Photo/Adj Nicolas-Nelson Richard, ECPAD, EMA)

In this undated image released Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013, by BP petroleum company, showing the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Islamist militants from Mali attacked a natural gas field partly operated by BP in southern Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media reported. Algerian forces, later caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, officials said.(AP Photo/BP)

Lars Christian Bacher, director for international affairs at Norwegian oil firm Statoil, gives a news conference in regards to the attack at gas field in Algeria, at Stavanger, Norway in this picture provided by Scanpix January 16, 2013. Islamist militants attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports. The gas field is operated by a joint venture including BP , Statoil and Algerian state company Sonatrach. REUTERS/Kent Skibstad/Scanpix

France's deputies and government members observe a minute of silence in memory of French air force lieutenant Damien Boiteux, who died on January 11 during a helicopter raid launched to support Mali ground troops in the battle for the key town of Kona, during a session of questions to the government on January 15, 2013 at the French National Assembly in Paris. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, and Italian Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola review a honor guard prior to talks, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Panetta is in Rome as part of a weeklong swing across Europe, meeting with defense ministers to talk about ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Mali. This is expected to be Panetta's last overseas trip as Pentagon chief, as he long has planned to step down once his replacement is confirmed. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Soldiers patrol under the Eiffel Tower on January 14, 2013 in Paris. Islamist forces based in northern Mali vowed Monday to avenge France's fierce military offensive against them on French soil. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

France's President Francois Hollande presides over a meeting on the Malian situation at the Elysee Palace in Paris, January 14, 2013. France's military Chief of Staff Benoit Puga is seated at right and France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is seen in the foreground. REUTERS/Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool

A French soldier lies on the ground during training for emergency first aid at the Malian army air base in Bamako January 14, 2013. France, which has poured hundreds of troops into the capital Bamako in recent days, carried out more air raids on Monday in the vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance grouping al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM alongside Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine militant groups. REUTERS/Joe Penney

French soldiers talk under a French flag in a hangar at the Malian army air base in Bamako January 14, 2013. France, which has poured hundreds of troops into the capital Bamako in recent days, carried out more air raids on Monday in the vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance grouping al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM alongside Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine militant groups. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A French soldier from the 2nd RIMA (French Navy Infantry Regiment), arriving from France, waits at the 101 military airbase near Bamako on January 14, 2013 before a deployment of his military unit in north of Mali. France is using air and ground power in a joint offensive with Malian soldiers launched on January 11 against hardline Islamist groups controlling northern Mali. ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images

French troops gather in a hangar at Bamako's airport Tuesday Jan. 15, 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

French soldiers refuel Armoured Personnel Carriers that were driven from Ivory Coast, at a Malian air base in Bamako January 15, 2013. The French army sent some 50 armoured vehicles to Mali from their military base in Ivory Coast, which arrived late Monday night. France hit Islamist rebels in Mali with fresh air strikes and deployed armoured cars on Tuesday, stepping up its intervention in the West African state as regional allies struggled to accelerate their plans to send in troops. REUTERS/Joe Penney

In this picture released by the French Army Communication Audiovisual office (ECPAD) French soldiers check a map at an undisclosed location, north of the Malian capital, Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. French troops pressed northward in Mali toward territory occupied by radical Islamists on Wednesday, military officials said, announcing the start of a land assault that will put soldiers in direct combat "within hours." (AP Photo/Arnaud Roine, ECPAD)

This handout picture released on January 16, 2013 by French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French troops heading north after leaving Bamako on January 15, 2013 to the front line against Islamist fighters. After days of airstrikes on Islamist positions in the northern territory the rebel triad seized in April, French and Malian troops battled the insurgents in the small town of Diabaly, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Bamako. AFP PHOTO / ECPAD / ARNAUD ROINE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ECPAD / ARNAUD ROINE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS NO ARCHIVES - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - TO BE USED WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM 01/16/2013ARNAUD ROINE/AFP/Getty Images

Mali's Foreign Minister Tieman Coulibaly pauses before answering a journalists question during a media conference after an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. EU foreign ministers have approved sending a military training mission to the troubled African country of Mali, to shore up the Malian army and enable the country's government to regain control of all its territory. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Helmets belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian army are seen as part of preparations for deployment to Mali, at the Nigerian Army peacekeeping centre in Jaji, near Kaduna January 17, 2013. French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. West African military chiefs said the French would soon be supported by around 2,000 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and other regional powers - part a U.N.-mandated deployment which had been expected to start in September but was kick-started by the French intervention. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

French Marion Larribe, daughter of Daniel Larribe, one of the four French hostages captured in Niger and detained since 28 months in Mali by AQIM, answers to journalists during a press conference, on January 17, 2013 in Nimes, southern France. The four French hostages were in a group of seven captured in Niger's uranium-mining town of Arlit. The "Serval" French military operation backing Mali's army in battling Islamist insurgents currently has some 1,400 soldiers deployed, some of whom are engaged in ground operations. PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images

Mohamed Ag, security guard in a mining company, poses for a picture in Gao on January 13, 2013. Mohamed was reportedly beaten by Islamists who accused him of being an informator for the Malian army. Fresh clashes erupted overnight between the Malian army, backed by French troops, and Islamic insurgents encircling the central town of Konna, military sources said today. STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

A man and woman couple rides a bike in a street of Bamako on January 17, 2013. EU foreign ministers agreed today to send military trainers for Mali's embattled army while funding an African-led intervention force and offering fresh help to France to fend off an Islamist rebel offensive. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Malian soldiers check civilians waiting to cross a bridge in Markala, approximately 40 km outside Segou on the road to Dibaly, in central Mali, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. Fighting raged in one Mali town, airstrikes hit another and army troops raced to protect a third, on Thursday, the seventh day of the French-led military intervention to wrest back Mali's north from al Qaida-linked groups. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)

Boys chat in front of the grand mosque in Segou January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Villagers wave to French military as they pass the the town of Konobougou, Mali January 17, 2013. European Union states will send more than 200 military personnel to train Mali government forces in the fight against Islamist rebels. Western stakes in the crisis were underlined when Islamist gunmen took dozens of foreign and local workers hostage at an Algerian desert gas facility on Wednesday, demanding that France pull its troops out of Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A Malian Muslim man prays in Bamako, on January 17, 2013. Forty Togolese soldiers arrived in Mali today, the first of those pledged by African nations to back a French-led offensive against Islamist rebels. West African troops have promised more than 3,000 soldiers to back Operation Serval, launched on January 11. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

West African soldiers from Togo arrive at Bamako's airport Thursday Jan. 17, 2013. They were the first contingent of West African troops brought to Mali to help French and government forces fight jihadist insurgents in control of the north of the country. Fighting raged in one Mali town, airstrikes hit another and army troops raced to protect a third, on the seventh day of the French-led military intervention to wrest back Mali's north from al Qaida-linked groups. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Nigerian Army soldiers stand as part of preparations for deployment to Mali, at the Nigerian Army peacekeeping centre in Jaji, near Kaduna January 17, 2013. French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. West African military chiefs said the French would soon be supported by around 2,000 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and other regional powers - part a U.N.-mandated deployment which had been expected to start in September but was kick-started by the French intervention. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Togolese soldiers arrive at the airport on January 17, 2013, in Bamako. Forty Togolese soldiers arrived in Mali today, the first of those pledged by African nations to back a French-led offensive against Islamist rebels. West African troops have promised more than 3,000 soldiers to back Operation Serval, launched on January 11. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Malian police officers control cars at a checkpoint near Bamako Senou airport on January 17, 2013. France now has 1,400 troops on the ground in Mali, more than half the total of 2,500 it plans to deploy in its former colony, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday. France won support from European Union nations Thursday for its military campaign in Mali and offers of military aid, possibly including troops, at emergency talks on the crisis. ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

A Malian man sells flags, including French ones, on a street of Bamako on January 17, 2013. France now has 1,400 troops on the ground in Mali, more than half the total of 2,500 it plans to deploy in its former colony, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images