Third French soldier killed in Mali fighting![]() March 3, 2013 - 17:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A third French soldier was killed in northern Mali fighting Islamist rebels alongside African troops, the French government said on Sunday, March 3, Reuters reported. France's defense ministry said that 26-year-old Corporal Cedric Charenton was killed late on Saturday in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains bordering the Algerian border. Chad's army said this week that it killed two regional al Qaeda commanders in the area: Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Adelhamid Abou Zeid. The joint force is hunting down pockets of al-Qaeda-linked insurgents after a seven-week French-led campaign to break Islamist domination of Mali's north. Partner news U.S. officials say they want to advance efforts to start talks between the Syrian government and opposition leaders. The international conference, backed by Russia and the U.S., aims to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. Nuland, a career foreign service officer who was until recently State's top spokesperson, was expected to be nominated the post. Alkhatib said Assad should respond within 20 days and that he should then be given a month to dissolve parliament. Partner news |