Nigeria deploys army to northeast to fight rebels

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria rumbled to a war footing Wednesday as soldiers and equipment moved into its northeastern states as part of an emergency military campaign against Islamic extremists waging a bloody insurgency.

In the last two days, Associated Press journalists and witnesses have seen armored tanks and soldiers moving through major roads and cities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. Those states, crossing an arid region of some 155,000 square kilometers (60,000 square miles), are now under a state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday night. The presidential order allows the military to arrest anyone at will and raid any building suspected of housing extremists.

Residents of the northeastern region greeted the new military campaign with faded hope and suspicion. Some prayed for an end of a violent guerrilla campaign that's killed more than 1,600 people since 2010, according to an AP count.

"Let's hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel; we have had enough killings and attacks and this created a tense situation in the land," said Amuga Keftin, who teaches at the Modibbo Adama University of Technology in Yola, the state capital of Adamawa state.

Others worried that regular life would halt entirely in the region, as people stay home out of fear of being targeted by security forces already accused of harassing, detaining and even killing civilians.

"We are waiting to see the arrival of the soldiers and it's our hope that unprovoked attacks, arrests and (abuses will) not be witnessed," Adamawa state resident Rabecca Musa said.

It was unclear the exact strength of the incoming military presence. A statement issued Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, a military spokesman, promised a "massive deployment of men and resources." However, Olukolade did not provide specifics and did not return calls for comment.

"The operational (planners) have also briefed participating troops appropriately on arrests, cordon and search — especially directed at apprehending those who have been violating sovereignty of Nigeria through terrorist training for insurgency and related activities," said Olukolade's statement.

In Maiduguri, the spiritual home of the Islamic extremist network known as Boko Haram, state officials said soldiers had been airlifted into the city. An AP journalist saw convoys of military vehicles on Monday night heading north into the rural expanse that borders Niger and Chad.

Nigeria's military also has jet fighters and attack helicopters, but it was not clear if those would be used in the assault.

Under the president's directive, soldiers have ultimate control over security matters in the three states, though his order allows civilian governments to remain in place. Such declarations are rare in Nigeria, a nation that abandoned a revolving door of coups and military rulers for democracy in 1999. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo placed two states under emergency rule during his tenure, throwing out elected leaders and installing caretaker governments.

This is Jonathan's second declaration of a state of emergency. In late December 2011, he declared emergencies in parts of four states, including Borno and Yobe. However, that declaration and an increased security presence failed to end the violence that is plaguing the nation.

The president's speech Tuesday offered the starkest vision of the ongoing violence, often downplayed by security forces and government officials due to political considerations. Jonathan described the attacks as a "rebellion," at one point describing how fighters had destroyed government buildings and "had taken women and children as hostages." He even acknowledged for the first time that Nigerian forces had lost control of some villages and towns in the northeast, something analysts and residents have warned has happened.

Nigeria's military even has said Islamic fighters now use anti-aircraft guns mounted on trucks to fight the nation's soldiers, likely outgunning the country's already overstretched security forces.

While the military prepares for its campaign, human rights activists remain concerned about the possibility of soldiers indiscriminately arresting and killing civilians. A recent military operation in a fishing village in Borno state along the shores of Lake Chad saw at least 187 people killed amid allegations that soldiers were responsible. While the military has denied repeatedly that it attacks and kills civilians, the country's armed forces have a history of committing such assaults.

"The path towards public safety cannot be an expansion of violations of the rights of Nigerians," Jibrin Ibrahim, the director of the Center for Democracy and Development, said in a statement. "We believe that the human rights of citizens should not be secondary to the provision of security."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell condemned Boko Haram's "campaign of terror" and echoed the need to deal with the "worsening cycle of violence in northern Nigeria."

But he said Nigeria must ensure that its security forces "protect civilians in any security response in a way that respects human rights and the rule of law." Recent allegations of abuses in Baga and elsewhere in the north need to be fully investigated, with those responsible for wrongdoing held accountable, he said.

"We have made clear to the Nigerian government that its heavy-handed response to insecurity in northern Nigeria and the failure to address human rights violations will potentially affect our ability to provide security assistance going forward," Ventrell told reporters. "We've made that message clear to the Nigerians."

Meanwhile, violence pitting different ethnic groups against each other continues, with clashes that kill dozens at a time. In addition, authorities acknowledged Tuesday that a single attack by an ethnic militia in Nasarawa state killed at least 46 police officers and 10 agents with the country's secret police.

Even Jonathan in his speech Tuesday named 11 states in Nigeria that have suffered in "the recent spate of terrorist activities and protracted security challenges." The president's tally identified nearly a third of the states in Nigeria, without him mentioning the eastern states suffering through a spate of kidnappings and those in the oil-rich southern delta where crude oil thefts go unstopped. His words signal the serious challenges now facing this country's weak, increasingly embattled central government.

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Associated Press writers contributing to this report include Mohammed Abubakar in Potiskum, Nigeria; Haruna Umar in Maiduguri, Nigeria; Ibrahim Abdul in Yola, Nigeria; Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria; and Bradley Klapper in Washington.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

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Canadian minister takes fight for oil sands crude to Europe

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A European Union plan to label crude from the Alberta oil sands as dirty is unfair and could damage Canada's bid to find new export markets, the Canadian resources minister said at the start of a mission to lobby against the idea.

As part of a plan to cut greenhouse gases from transport fuel, the EU's executive commission has developed a Fuel Quality Directive that would single out oil from Alberta's tar sands as more polluting than conventional crude.

Canada, whose oil sands are the world's third-largest proven reserves of crude, strongly opposes the move.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, speaking at the start of a week-long trip to Paris, Brussels and London, said the directive should be changed to ensure it does not discriminate against crude from the oil sands.

"We think that's critical as an alternative to what we view as a flawed and ineffective approach that's proposed by the commission," he told Reuters in an interview from Paris.

Extracting crude from the clay-like Alberta oil sands requires more energy than conventional oil production. Environmentalists say that increases greenhouse gas emissions, making the oil sands a top target for the green movement.

Ottawa is unhappy the directive would not penalize Russia, which both burns and releases natural gas while extracting oil. Oliver said this means Russian crude extraction produces at least as many emissions as tar sands oil, if not more.

"If you're giving a free pass to a high emitter who happens to be one of the biggest exporters into the Union, then how are you achieving your objectives? This is all very logical, it's hard to argue against," he said.

Last year, amid heavy Canadian lobbying, the EU held an inconclusive vote on the directive and then decided to assess the full impact of the plan. That assessment is due in the next few months, paving the way for another vote.

Although Canada sends almost no crude to the EU now, that could change if proposals to create pipeline capacity from Alberta to Canada's East Coast are successful.

"We're not exporting to the EU at the moment but we don't want to see our crude oil stigmatized, which could possibly have implications elsewhere," said Oliver, adding that Canada did not oppose the goals of the fuel quality directive.

"What we want is a scientific fact-based approach that makes its judgment based on the scientific realities and not sort of a preconceived idea ... that our oil should be treated differently," he told Reuters.

Canada sends 99 percent of its oil exports to the United States. But a glut of supply and full pipelines are cutting prices, a problem that underlines the Canadian industry's need to find new markets.

The EU vote on the directive last year ended in stalemate amid misgivings from Britain and the Netherlands. Both nations have stakes in Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which operates in the oil sands, as does France's Total SA.

Oliver is meeting senior executives from both companies during his mission, as well as officials from the European Commission and industry groups. He declined to predict how successful his trip would be.

"I've got this great hand but the final results aren't yet in. We're arguing from logic and we're arguing from equity, in all fairness. You hope that prevails," he said.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)

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South Africa: fight over rhino poaching escalates

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A U.S. firm recently gave smart phones to some game rangers in South Africa to help them track poachers who kill rhinos for their horns. An anti-poaching ad campaign in Vietnam, a key illegal market, shows rhinos with human hands or feet in place of horns, which are made from the same material as fingernails and toenails.

Despite these and other globe-spanning projects to protect the rhinoceros, the rate of poaching in South Africa — home to most of Africa's rhinos — this year is on track to exceed the record number of illegal kills in 2012, conservation officials say. The more money, innovation and publicity go into the cause, the more poachers, who see rhino horn as a high-priced commodity, seemingly diversify their hunt.

It resembles a tit-for-tat escalation, similar to the old arcade game "Whac-a-Mole," in which disparate campaigns can target a poaching tactic or location only for the killing to pop up in other places and forms.

"The demand seems to be such that every time there's a clampdown in one area, another issue emerges," said Dr. Jo Shaw, a rhino expert in South Africa for the World Wildlife Fund.

South Africa, a haven-turned-killing ground, was once a big success. The intensity of the battle here has since made it a crucible for experiments and policy debates on how to stop poachers seeking to meet surging demand in some Asian countries. Consumers covet rhino horn after it is ground into a powder as a balm for health, despite no supporting evidence.

A South African opposition party has urged the government to label rhino poaching as a national disaster, allowing the allocation of disaster management funds to fight poaching. The Democratic Alliance also called for more discussion about legalizing the trade in rhino horns, which can grow back after cutting.

"A total ban on rhino horn trade will eventually lead to the complete extinction of the species. A regulated and controlled trade would supply demand and dismantle poaching syndicates through open market pressures," opposition lawmaker Anthony Benadie said in a statement.

Some conservationists warn that a legal trade would not necessarily stamp out the illegal one. Besides, it would require the approval of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. The group, which has 173 signatory countries, met in Bangkok in March and won't meet again for three years.

Poachers killed 668 rhinos in South Africa in 2012, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. On April 18, South Africa said 232 rhino had been illegally killed so far this year, 70 percent of them in the vast Kruger National Park.

"The patterns keep indicating that it will be over 800" this year, said Shaw of the World Wildlife Fund.

She said the number of white and black rhinos in South Africa, 19,000 and 2,000 respectively, is actually rising. By some estimates, however, the populations will reach a "tipping point" in 2016 and then decline if poaching persists.

Albi Modise, spokesman for South Africa's department of environmental affairs, said the use of gun silencers and other sophisticated equipment by poachers "requires that we up our game as well in terms of anti-poaching activity."

In one success, Shaw said, authorities have stopped Vietnamese and others killing rhinos in South Africa under the guise of legal trophy-hunting, and then illegally selling the horns abroad. South Africa regulates limited hunting of rhinos, though this practice is coming under increasing scrutiny.

The poaching crisis has triggered an array of measures whose effectiveness is hotly debated.

The private Sabi Sand game reserve has injected horns of some rhinos with a pink dye and chemicals that could sicken a person who ingests rhino horn. The tactic would be tough to implement in the nearby Kruger park, where rhinos are harder to track in the vast expanse and where rangers sometimes clash with armed poachers from neighboring Mozambique. CITES is pushing Mozambique to get tougher on poachers, and also urging Vietnam to take steps to curb demand.

Canvas, a Virginia-based technology company, equipped some rangers at the Sabi Sand reserve with smart phones this year. The devices enable them to swiftly share data and images — for example, footprints, holes cut in fences and animal carcasses — that help them patrol the bush and could eventually serve as courtroom evidence against suspected poachers.

James Quigley, head of Canvas, acknowledged there is a strong financial incentive behind poaching. The price of rhino horn has been compared to the U.S. street value of cocaine, a temptation for criminal syndicates, triggermen from poor villages and some corrupt officials.

"The risk versus reward becomes such that each side has to amplify just to keep in line with each other," Quigley said of the battle to stop poachers.

Tom Snitch, an American expert in imagery from satellites and drone aircraft, plans to test small drones in a South African game reserve in late May. He will use satellite imagery and mathematical models to plot flight paths based on predictions of the movements of both rhinos and poachers.

"If we see the poachers, we put the drones on top of them and basically vector them in where they can be apprehended," Snitch said. Some of the technology mirrors that used by U.S. forces to detect insurgents planting roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fight against poachers is similarly cat-and-mouse, he said.

"You constantly have to refine your model in the anticipation that your adversary is learning your techniques and tactics," said Snitch, a visiting professor in computer studies at the University of Maryland.

South Africa has signed an anti-poaching deal with Vietnam, which has pledged more rigorous inspections of cargo, particularly from Africa, at land, air and sea entry points as well as public awareness campaigns. The World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC, a wildlife monitoring network, are launching an ad campaign on social media networks and elsewhere in Vietnam. One poster depicts hands and feet on a rhino's face, noting human nails and rhino horns are both made from a tough protein called keratin.

The caption reads: "Rhino horn is made of the same stuff as human nails. Still want some?"

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UPDATE 2-Soccer-Australia fight back for 2-2 draw with Oman

(Adds detail)

* Oman lose 2-0 lead

* Holman scores late equaliser

By Nick Mulvenney

SYDNEY, March 26 (Reuters) - Australia were forced to come from two goals down to keep their bid to reach a third successive World Cup finals just about on track with a 2-2 draw against Oman in an Asian qualifier on Tuesday.

The visitors stunned the 34,603 crowd at Sydney's Olympic stadium by taking a 1-0 lead through Abdul Aziz Mubarak in the sixth minute and doubling it courtesy of a Mile Jedinak own goal four minutes after the break.

Tim Cahill cut the deficit with a trademark header on 51 minutes, however, and midfielder Brett Holman equalised with a 25-metre strike five minutes from time.

The draw means Australia and Oman are locked together on six points, seven behind runaway Group B leaders Japan, one ahead of Iraq and two clear of Jordan, who meet the Japanese later on Tuesday. The top two qualify for Brazil in 2014.

Cahill was named man-of-the-match for what sometimes looked like a solo effort to get his side back into the match but Oman goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi might feel aggrieved having denied the New York Red Bulls forward with a string of fine saves.

Australia coach Holger Osieck was tactically outwitted by Oman's Paul Le Guen in the first half, the visitors showing far more adventure than anyone had expected and getting an early reward.

Mubarak got in behind defender Michael Thwaite and latched onto a hopeful lobbed pass before turning and drilling the ball low under the legs of Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from the corner of the six-yard area.

Going behind failed to galvanise the home side and they continued to labour in attack.

The boos started as early as the 36th minute, shortly after Holman had headed the ball into the arms of Al-Habsi for Australia's first attempt on target.

Australia's hole got deeper five minutes into the second half when the Omani forward Raed Saleh rounded Matt McKay on the right flank and his cross was turned into his own net by Jedinak.

That finally provoked a response from the Socceroos and two minutes later Cahill rose to steer a header into the far corner of the Oman goal from a Luke Wilkshire corner for his 27th international goal.

Australia were now playing at the sort of tempo Cahill had said would be required and the former Everton forward was three times brilliantly denied by saves from Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Al-Habsi.

A deflected Wilkshire shot beat Al-Habsi on the hour mark but came off the bar and post and bounced awkwardly for Cahill following up.

Just when it looked like Oman might just claim a famous victory, Holman found some space coming in from the left flank and unleashed a powerful drive into the far corner. (Editing by Patrick Johnston)

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Soccer-Australia forced to fight back for 2-2 draw with Oman

SYDNEY, March 26 (Reuters) - Australia were forced to come from two goals down to keep their bid to reach a third successive World Cup finals just about on track with a 2-2 draw against Oman in an Asian qualifier at Sydney's Olympic stadium on Tuesday.

The visitors stunned the 34,603 crowd by taking a 1-0 lead through Abdul Aziz Mubarak in the sixth minute and doubling it courtesy of a Mile Jedinak own goal four minutes after the break.

Forward Tim Cahill cut the deficit with a trademark header on 51 minutes, however, and midfielder Brett Holman equalised with a 25-metre strike five minutes from time.

The draw means Australia and Oman are locked together on six points, seven behind runaway Group B leaders Japan, one ahead of Iraq and two clear of Jordan, who meet the Japanese later on Tuesday. The top two qualify for Brazil in 2014. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Patrick Johnston)

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Cricket-NZ fight back but England well placed in 2nd test

By Greg Stutchbury

WELLINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - New Zealand took three wickets to slow England's march towards a massive first innings total, but the visitors are still in a strong position at 353 for five at lunch on the second day of the second test on Friday.

Kevin Pietersen was on 68, reaching his 30th test half century despite some nervous moments when he was dropped once and gave New Zealand's fielders a half chance as he charged left arm spinner Bruce Martin. Matt Prior was on 15 at the break.

England had started the day in a strong position on 267 for two, with Jonathan Trott on 121 and Pietersen on 18 and looking to consolidate in the first hour of play and lay the foundation for a possible declaration later in the day.

After Pietersen safely negotiated the first over of the day, Trott was dismissed on the first delivery he faced from left arm pace bowler Trent Boult when he pushed away from his body and feathered a catch to wicketkeeper BJ Watling.

Pietersen, who made just 12 runs in the drawn first test, seemed anxious to get into his naturally attacking game but he was lucky to still be at the crease at the break.

The tall right hander got a thick top edge to a Tim Southee bouncer on 40 and while Watling got a hand to it, he was able only to parry it away, with the visitors on 300 for three.

The hosts, however, did not have to wait long before they managed to make another breakthrough when Ian Bell, who had looked comfortable in making 11, charged Martin and only succeeded in lofting the ball to Peter Fulton, leaving the visitors on 302 for four.

Joe Root then continued his poor run in the tests in New Zealand after a superb one-day series when Martin managed to get some bounce and turn that will pique the interest of England's Monty Panesar and Watling took the catch to dismiss the 22-year-old for 10.

Nick Compton and Trott had exploited a good batting surface on a sun-drenched first day at the Basin Reserve to combine for a 210-run second wicket partnership.

The third match of the series is at Eden Park in Auckland from March 22-26.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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Fight for future of Bangladesh plays out in street

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The fight for the future of Bangladesh is playing out in the streets of this troubled south Asian nation.

For a month, masses of moderate activists have camped at a Dhaka intersection demanding harsh punishment for those accused of crimes during the 1971 independence war from Pakistan, a stance that dovetails with the prime minister's position.

Meanwhile, their bitter enemies in a hardline Islamic opposition party that wants to install Shariah law have been attacking government buildings and setting fire to trains in a rampage that — along with a crackdown by security forces — has killed more than 60 people. The party, Jamaat-e-islami, says the government is using a war crimes tribunal to decimate the party leadership, and claims it is in a fight for its very existence.

"Our backs have been pushed to the wall. If we can't stop the fascist government from holding the trials, all our main leaders will be hanged," said Rafiqul Haq, a Jamaat leader based in Dhaka's Uttara district. "We will die rather than let the government kill our leaders."

The latest round of violence — sparked by the tribunal sentencing a party leader to death — has prompted calls for Jamaat to be branded a terrorist organization, and Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed told Parliament this week that the government was looking into ways to ban the party.

Looming over the protests and violence are general elections expected within the next year, and fears that in this fledgling democracy with a history of coups, the military might take over if the situation in the streets gets too far out of hand.

"The people are deeply worried about what is going on," said Hassan Shahriar, a political analyst. "If the violence continues, the government may hit back with harsh measures like a state of emergency." Military intervention is possible as well, he said.

Much of the chaos centers on the fate of Jamaat, the country's largest Islamic party. Its leaders are facing charges they helped Pakistani forces in the fighting four decades ago, which Bangladesh says left 3 million people dead and 200,000 women raped.

Jamaat had opposed breaking away from Pakistan, arguing that staying as one strong Muslim-majority nation would be better for Islam. Citizen brigades formed by Jamaat helped Pakistani forces, unfamiliar with Bangladesh, identify independence activists. Jamaat leaders deny any link to war crimes.

After independence, founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, banned the party and stripped many of its leaders of citizenship. But he was slain in 1975 and military ruler Ziaur Rahman, husband of current opposition leader Khaleda Zia, lifted the ban and wooed Jamaat as an ally for his Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Though Jamaat has never won big at the ballot box, routinely garnering around 4 percent, it has been an important coalition ally for Zia, and even received Cabinet posts when she won elections in 2001

Despite its violent history, Jamaat developed a loyal cadre by devoting attention to the poor. It runs a bevy of charities, hospitals and hundreds of Islamic schools. It has gained the loyalty of poor students through its scholarships and earned a reputation, even among opponents, for honest behavior amid the usual government corruption.

"The activists are highly dedicated and Jamaat also has lots of money to maintain a huge army of trained cadres," Shahriar said. He noted that its loyalists are trained almost like guerrilla fighters.

At the same time, its ideology has failed to make much headway in the country, where many look down on it as a local version of Pakistan's Taliban. And many remain angry that the party never apologized for its role in the war.

When the war crimes tribunals inaugurated by Hasina began handing down decisions earlier this year, lines were drawn. Many cheered that the country was finally dealing with its past. Others lashed them as a plot to destroy the opposition, since 11 of the 12 defendants are politicians from Jamaat and Zia's opposition party.

"The trials are nothing but a ploy to hide the failures of the government," Zia said last week.

When Abdul Quader Mollah appeared smiling last month after being given a life sentence, people poured into the streets, demanding his execution. Many here believe that if Zia wins the upcoming election, she will grant clemency to those convicted, leaving a swift execution as the only way of ensuring justice is delivered.

"I'm not bothered about politics," said Nazrul Islam, a Dhaka University student who was among the protesters. "What I want is that those who killed our people, raped our women must be punished."

When Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a top Jamaat leader, was then given a death sentence last week, Jamaat struck back with violent attacks.

In northern Bogra district, Jamaat activists used loudspeakers to urge supporters to pour into the streets and then led them to attack police stations, dragging four policemen from the outposts and beating them to death, police and private TV stations reported. In eastern Noakhali and Comilla districts, Jamaat activists attacked about a dozen temples and dozens of Hindu homes, police said. Hindus are seen as supporters of Hasina's ruling party.

Images of bloodied and bullet-ridden bodies heaped on ashes of burned homes were shown on television.

With most of Jamaat's top leaders in jail, including its president, Matiur Rahman Nizami, the party is being run by mid-level leaders, most of them in hiding.

"It's a do or die situation for Jamaat," said political analyst Mofizur Rahman, with Dhaka University. "The entire leadership of Jamaat is facing elimination."

Many people left homeless after their houses were torched were confused and devastated that they were dragged into this national crisis.

"Have we committed any crime?" asked Pushpa Das, a 45-year-old woman as she sat on the wreckage of her tin-roof house, destroyed by attackers in Chittagong district, southeast of Dhaka. "Why have they attacked us?"

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French in tough fight in northern Mali

PARIS (AP) — France's defense minister said Tuesday that French troops are involved in "very violent fighting" in the mountains of northern Mali and that it's too early to talk about a quick pullout from the West African country, despite the growing cost of the intervention.

The fighting against Islamic extremists in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains has been going on for days. A clash in the area killed 23 soldiers from neighboring Chad on Friday, according to a letter from French President Francois Hollande expressing condolences to his Chadian counterpart.

Soldiers from Chad and a few other African countries have joined the French-led operation to help Mali's weak military push back extremists who had imposed harsh rule on northern Mali and started moving toward the capital last month.

On Tuesday, the Obama administration imposed sanctions on an Islamic rebel leader whose extremist group seized much of northern Mali last year and prompted the French military intervention. The U.S. State Department designated Iyad Ag Ghali, head of the Islamic group Ansar Dine, a global terrorist. The action blocks any assets he holds in the U.S. and prohibits Americans from doing business with him.

The U.N. also added Ag Ghali to its global sanctions list.

Ag Ghali's armed extremists conquered much of northern Mali after a military coup in Mali's capital, aided by al-Qaida's North Africa wing. In Timbuktu, he imposed strict Shariah law and forced thousands to flee; others were tortured and executed. But the French-led intervention in January has turned the tide, forcing back Ag Ghali's rebels to mountainous hideouts near the Algeria border.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on France's RTL radio Tuesday that the French intervention in Mali has cost more than €100 million ($133 million) since it started Jan. 11.

In the first weeks of the campaign, French and Malian forces easily took back cities in northern Mali. But the fighting is rougher now that it has reached more remote terrain in the mountains of the southern Sahara.

"We are now at the heart of the conflict," in protracted fighting in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, Le Drian said. While some have suggested starting a pullout of the 4,000-strong French force next month, Le Drian said he couldn't talk about a quick withdrawal while the mountain fighting goes on.

Hollande's letter to Chadian President Idriss Deby said the deaths of Chadian soldiers "illustrate the dangers of this mission." It gave no details. The Chadian army had initially said that 13 soldiers and 65 Islamic extremist rebels were killed in the fighting Friday.

At the United Nations in New York, a top U.N. humanitarian official said Tuesday that as security improves in Mali, the world must seize the moment to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid.

John Ging, a senior humanitarian affairs official who just visited Mali, said that country's northern region is stabilizing but needs help re-opening schools, markets and health clinics. The U.N. is appealing for $373 million in aid, but has only received $17 million.

Even before fighting erupted last year among government forces, Taureg rebels and radical Islamists, Ging said Mali was suffering from the severe food crisis that has hit Africa's arid Sahel region.

Ging said more than 430,000 Malians have been displaced.

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AP correspondent Bradley Klapper contributed from Washington and AP correspondent Ron DePasquale contributed from the United Nations in New York.

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