Bamako (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrives in Mali in a sign of deepening political and security ties between Moscow and Bamako’s ruling junta, who are seeking Russia’s help in battling an Islamist insurgency that remains entrenched despite years of fighting. Lavrov, who was in Iraq on Monday, is welcomed off the plane in the early hours by his Malian counterpart, Abdoulaye Diop.
