UN is considering the deployment of a peacekeeping force in northern Mali French army chief of staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud has arrived in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott ahead of a series of meetings to discuss the security situation in the region, along with Mauritania\'s role in the current conflict in northern Mali.
Mauritanian military sources said that the visit coincides with the planned deployment of an African peacekeeping force in Mali, and discussions will focus on the future role of French troops in the African state, along with ways to tackle the threat of extremism posed by Islamist organisation al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM).
Admiral Guillaud said that the French military intervention in Mali had weakened AQIM and called on his troops to focus on the borders area of Gao which has witnessed violent clashes between the Islamist fighters and the French and African troops. The Malian army announced that 63 soldiers had been killed since the French army\'s intervention in January.
A Malian military official said that Islamic organisation AQIM had lost its strongholds on the border with Algeria, a feat he put down to the good work of Malian soldiers.
Meanwhile, Mali-based Islamist group Ansar Dine sentenced a Malian citizen to death after finding him guilty of spying for the French military.
Sources said that the group had detained four individuals in Mali, accusing them of spying for the Western forces.