EU and African states back French action in Mali

French troops in Mali concentrated on containing al Qaeda linked rebels in a town near the capital while the EU and African states rushed to support their action with troops and strategic supplies.

In Paris French president François Hollande said the hostage tragedy in neighbouring Algeria showed that his intervention in Mali was justified.

In Brussels his foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, told journalists the push by jihadists in the former French colony was a risk for all of Europe.