Clinton seeks aid to oust Mali rebels

ALGIERS, Algeria - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Algeria's assistance Monday for any future military intervention in Mali, pressing the North African nation to provide intelligence - if not boots on the ground - to help rout the al-Qaeda-linked militants across its southern border.

Clinton, on the first stop of a five-day trip overseas, met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as the United States and its allies ramped up preparations to fight northern Mali's breakaway Islamist republic.

When Mali's democratically elected leader was ousted in a military coup in March, Tuareg rebels seized on the power vacuum and within weeks took control of the north, aided by an Islamist faction. The Islamists then quickly ousted the Tuaregs and took control of half the country.

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved the idea of an African-led military force to help Mali's army oust the Islamic militants, but details are still unclear.

One plan would see Mali's embattled government in the south and its West African neighbors taking the military lead to battle the militants, with the United States and European countries in support.

Any military intervention would likely require help from Algeria, whose reforms have headed off the Arab Spring tumult experienced by neighbors such as Libya and Tunisia and left it with the strongest military and best intelligence in the region.

Clinton said she and Bouteflika spoke at length about Mali, with the Algerian leader appearing to caution against any rash action.

"I very much appreciated the president's analysis based on his long experience as to the many complicated factors that have to be addressed to deal with the internal insecurity in Mali and the terrorist and drug-trafficking threat that is posed to the region and beyond," Clinton told reporters.

She said they agreed to continue talks with the U.N. and African nations "to determine the most effective approaches that we should be taking."

The 15-nation West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, has discussed sending 3,000 troops to help oust the Islamist militants from the north. Many, though, question how Mali's weak military could take the lead on such an intervention and analysts believe more ECOWAS soldiers would be needed to take and hold the France-size desert area now controlled by the militants.

From Algeria, Clinton left for three days of talks in the Balkans, arriving Monday night in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.