They came to monitor a ceasefire agreement which both the rebels and the government were violating.
It is the second time this week that French forces have fought the rebels.
At the time (March 2013) there was even less stomach for military assistance to the rebels.
Kesri has called on the rebels to attend the long-delayed party elections early next year.
The government has offered to begin peace talks with the rebels, but without success.
Islamabad denies the charge, saying it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the rebels.
Does that suggest the rebels are losing control of what had been their town?
Rwanda has strongly rejected allegations that it backs the rebels led by Gen Ntaganda.
BBC: US blocking UN report on DR Congo rebels, watchdog says
The castle proposals include a Robin and the Rebels Discovery Centre and a medieval moat.
Fair enough, I thought, until I found out their husbands were away fighting for the rebels.
France intervened militarily in January amid fears the rebels were preparing to advance on Bamako.
The US and EU have so far refused to supply the rebels with weapons.
BBC: Syria crisis: US steps up aid to rebels at talks in Turkey
Aid agencies wonder, and fear, what might happen were the rebels to step up their activities.
Now if they hold these talks in Khartoum, how will the rebels think about it?
The rebels were repelled after two hours of fierce fighting, a Malian army official said.
The Gulf Arabs are loth to cough up the cash they promised to support the rebels.
The rebels over-ran Bangui last weekend, in a move condemned by the United States as "illegitimate".
The Central African Republic government is seeking negotiations with the rebels in Libreville, Gabon, he said.
Syrian state media said that arming the rebels would be a "flagrant violation" of international law.
Shells were directed at villages in the mountains above Tetovo, from which the rebels have advanced.
But the Macedonian majority accuses the rebels of trying to seize ground and split the state.
The Macedonian government refuses to negotiate with the rebels, whom it considers to be terrorists.
Two senior Tories who backed the rebels have paid the price for their defiance.
Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, blamed the rebels for the crater damage.
President Francois Bozize himself fled to Cameroon when the rebels captured the capital, Bangui.
BBC: Central Africa Republic crisis: Refugee numbers 'swell'
But the package falls short of the heavy weapons and high-tech equipment sought by the rebels.
David, the Chadian officials say that the rebels are being backed by the Sudanese government.
Mr Preston does not hide his loathing of the rebels and empathy for the left.
This suggests that there are divisions among the rebels, a notion confirmed by Western intelligence sources.
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