Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore has formed a national unity government in an attempt to bring stability to a country split in two after Islamists seized northern regions following a coup.

Islamists occupying the northern Mali town of Aguelhok stoned an unmarried couple to death in front of about 200 people on Sunday, two local government officials said.

"I was there. The Islamists too

Gunfire broke out in Mali's capital on Monday, with troops who took part in last month's military coup and the guard of the newly installed president exchanging shots, witnesses said.

The shooting in

A renowned extremist leader and his fighters on Monday seized control of Timbuktu and chased out the Tuareg rebels with whom they captured Mali's fabled city a day earlier, witnesses said.

"Iyad (Ag

The junior officer who overthrew Mali's democratically elected leader earlier this month and dissolved the nation's constitution made a public U-turn Sunday, declaring amid enormous international pres

The Malian army on Saturday fought off a Tuareg rebel assault on Gao, the main town in northern Mali, said new junta chief Captain Amadou Sanogo.

"The president informs the people that rebel assailan

Members of the military junta that seized power in Mali last week will not be allowed to stand in legislative and presidential elections, under the new constitution outlined late on Tuesday.

"Any per

Two days of fierce clashes between the Malian army and Tuareg rebels killed 47 people - 45 rebels and two soldiers, the west African nation's defence ministry said in a statement published Thursday.

A Tunisian man arrested after exploding a gas cylinder in front of the French embassy in the Malian capital Bamako claimed Wednesday he belongs to Al-Qaeda, a police official said.