Hollande says Mali action will last as long as necessary

France's military intervention in Mali will last as long as it takes to overcome terrorism in the region, President Francois Hollande said on Saturday.  

"People often ask how long this will last. I reply, the time it takes. The time it takes to vanquish terrorism in this area," he said.   

Hollande, who ordered French fighter jets into action in Mali a week ago to halt an Islamist advance, also said a hostage crisis at a desert gas plant in Algeria offered further evidence that France's action in the region was justified.   

He said attempts by the Algerian authorities to root out the hostage-takers were under way but that reports were now coming in that the operation had come to an end.   

"Hostages have been killed, assassinated in cowardly fashion," Hollande said.   

For his part, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that France's total troop count on the ground in Mali could top the 2,500 initially announced.   

Le Drian, speaking on France 3 television about the military intervention Paris launched last week to repel Islamist rebels, said that the French troop count on the ground in the African former colony had now reached 2,000.    

Asked about the total expected deployment on the ground in Mali, Le Drian replied: "2,500 is what was initially announced, maybe that will be exceeded."


REUTERS