Mali's MNLA Tuareg rebels say they control Kidal

 
Secular Malian Tuareg MNLA rebels said on Monday they were now in control of the northern town of Kidal after their former Islamist allies abandoned it.                            

"Now it is us who are in control," Colonel Mohamed Ag Najim, the MNLA's military commander, told Reuters by satellite phone from the northeastern town, which was the last stronghold occupied by al Qaeda-allied Islamist fighters after Gao and Timbuktu were taken by French and Malian troops.                 

Asked where fighters from the Islamist Ansar Dine group which held the town were, Ag Najim replied: "They are gone". Another MNLA rebel contacted by Reuters gave the same account but there was no immediate independent confirmation.              

Earlier, Islamist fighters fleeing Mali's ancient Saharan city of Timbuktu as French and Malian troops closed in set fire to a South African-funded library there containing thousands of priceless manuscripts, the city's mayor said on Monday.                 

"The rebels sit fire to the newly-constructed Ahmed Baba Institute built by the South Africans ... this happened four days ago," Halle Ousmane told Reuters by telephone from Bamako. He said he had received the information from his chief of communications who had travelled south from the city a day ago.           

Ousmane was not able to immediately say how much the building had been damaged.                           

Residents who fled Mali's fabled desert town Timbuktu after Islamic extremists occupied it more than nine months ago welcomed news on Sunday that French and Malian military forces had reached Gao, a city on the way to their hometown.                

Since the arrival of the French troops in Gao followed by the Malian army, everyone says 'finally, we are free'," Cheick Sormoye said from the capital Bamako where he has sought refuge.                     

Timbuktu, a UNESCO world heritage site and labyrinth of ancient mosques, monuments and mud-brick homes, didn't have any contact with the outside world as the phone lines have been cut for days.                                

In recent days the two-week-long French mission gathered momentum against the extremists.                      

So far the French forces have met little resistance from the militants, though it remains unclear what battles may await them farther north.                    

The move towards Timbuktu comes a day after the French announced they had seized the airport and a key bridge in Gao, one of the other northern provincial capitals under the grip of the Islamists.             

However, a Gao official interviewed by telephone by The Associated Press said late on Saturday that coalition forces so far only controlled the airport, the bridge and surrounding neighborhoods.                  

And in Paris, a defense ministry official clarified that the city had not been fully liberated, and that the process of freeing Gao was continuing.   Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, was seized by a mixture of al-Qaida-linked Islamist fighters more than nine months ago along with the other northern provincial capitals of Kidal and Timbuktu.            

Since France began its military operation, the Islamists have retreated from three small towns in central Mali: Diabaly, Konna and Douentza.                      

However, the Islamists still control much of the north, including Kidal.               

The return of the Islamists to Timbaktu is the biggest worry for Nana Toure, who said she was ready to go home if the army secures her hometown.        

"French troops must not leave us alone then because those (Islamists) who fled may come back and cause problem to us. French troops have to stay a bit to stabilize the place," Toure said.                            

The Malian forces are now expected to get more help than initially promised from neighboring nations.                              

Col. Shehu Usman Abdulkadir, a Nigerian in charge of regional forces heading to Mali, told The Associated Press that the African force will be expanded from an anticipated 3,200 troops to some 5,700 - a figure that does not include the 2,200 soldiers promised by Chad.                       

Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore is heading a civilian transitional government that was set up following the coup last March.                      

No date has been set yet for elections to choose a new government.


AP/REUTERS