The Interim Prime Minister of Mali, Cheick Modibo Diarra, arrived in Paris on Monday for talks with French officials on the security crisis in the north of his country.
Diarra will meet with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to discuss “French support for reclaiming the territories illegally occupied by terrorists and drug traffickers,''a statement from the prime minister's office said.
The northern part of the West African country has been controlled by various armed groups since early 2012.
A military coup in March created a power vacuum which Islamist insurgents used to seize control and oust from their positions Tuareg separatists, who had been battling the government since January.
Representatives of the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad are reportedly in France also for talks with the French authorities.
During the past week, a French national was abducted in Diema, in western Mali, an area under government control.
The Islamist group Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) claimed responsibility.
The abduction brought the number of French citizens kidnapped in Mali to seven.
France had been actively pushing for an international intervention in the country.
The AU on Nov. 10, agreed to a plan drawn up by the ECOWAS to deploy 3,300 soldiers to northern Mali, where the human rights and humanitarian situation had been worsening.
The intervention plan has to be authorised by the UN Security Council.