In Mali, armed Islamist rebels control much of the West African country's desert north and have begun moving further south. It was the capture of Konna by rebel groups on Thursday that prompted alarm from the French government. Malian President Dioncounda Traoré had called on France for military support. Amid fears that insurgent groups with links to the Qā’idah network could destabilize the region and gain the ability to strike the region and overseas, French President Francois Hollande said United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions provide for the intervention in the former French colony. Earlier Friday, he had said “French forces brought their support this afternoon to Malian army units to fight against terrorist elements,” Hollande told reporters. “This operation will last as long as is necessary,” he added (Ahmad ‘Abd al-Hakīm, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Jan. 12, p. 8). Read original text in Arabic.