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Allies in Libya, Enemies in Mali

Ali Hashem comments on the roots of the conflict in Mali, the connections to the campaign which overthrew Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and the terrorist insurgency that is dividing Mali and destabilizing North Africa.
An English-language manual for installing laser sight on gun, believed to belong to Islamist rebels, lies in the courtyard of local resident Issa Dembele's house in Diabaly January 23, 2013. Dembele said the rebels took over his house when they took control of Diabaly last week to store weapons and munitions. The munitions were later abandoned during fighting between the rebels and the French and Malian militaries. REUTERS/Joe Penney (MALI - Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT)

Thanks to French President Francois Hollande, who felt the need to step in to contain the collapse of Mali, and a calamitous rescue operation by Algerian forces that resulted in the deaths of 37 hostages, the Western media has discovered Mali. 

The largest West African country is under threat of division in a war that sees government troops, along with a Western coalition led by the French, battling well-armed ethnic Tuaregs and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansaruldin group, who were already at war with each other.

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