BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union states agreed on Thursday to send hundreds of military personnel to train Mali government forces in fighting Islamist rebels, whose campaign to impose Islamic law across north Africa is causing growing unease in Western capitals.
The training mission has been the subject of discussions for weeks but the sense of urgency has grown since the al Qaeda-linked rebels pushed beyond their stronghold in northern Mali to threaten the capital Bamako and France launched air strikes to drive them back.