Mali rebels attack northern city of Gao

BAMAKO - After seizing the town of Kidal on Friday, the rebel forces on Saturday attacked Gao, a strategic city in Northern Mali, witnesses said.

The rebels took Kidal on Friday following a day of heavy fighting and witnesses said the rebels with heavy arms were moving into Gao on Saturday.

If the government forces lost Gao, they have to retreat to Timbuktu, one of the three strategic towns in the west African nation's northern region.      

The government forces' defeat came just within 10 days since the mutinous coup that took power from elected President Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22.

The regional group, the Economic Community of West African States, has condemned the coup and has given the military junta a 72-hour deadline until Monday to return the power to civilians or face sanctions.

Under the pressure both from abroad and within the country, the junta on Saturday sent a delegation to meet with the president of Burkina Faso, the main mediator in the crisis, seeking outside help.

The representative of the junta, Col. Moussa Coulibaly, told reporters in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, after talks with Burkina President Blaise Compaore,  that the junta would "quickly reach a consensus" on how to restore the institutions of the state.