Tagged: Mali

African leaders are meeting Sunday for talks likely to be dominated by the crisis in Mali where the French-led intervention against Islamist rebels is gaining strength.

NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton is monitoring the summit that is taking place at African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for our Newscast team. Here's what she says:

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For some historical context on the fighting in Mali, we spoke with Gregory Mann. He's an associate professor of history at Columbia University and he's an expert on North Africa, including the area in northern Mali now controlled by insurgents.

The recent crises in northern Africa, from Libya to Mali to Algeria, have raised a host of questions about the role of the American military command responsible for the entire continent.

Founded in 2007, the United States Africa Command, or AFRICOM, was created to train African militaries so U.S. troops would not be called upon in times of crisis.