Mali PM Arrives in Kidal for Visit Delayed by Gunfight

Malian Prime Minister Moussa Mara arrived in the rebel-controlled northern city of Kidal on Saturday for a trip that had been delayed when the army exchanged gunfire with Tuareg separatists, aides said.

The visit was due to be the second leg of his first tour of the west African nation's restive northern desert since his appointment in April, but he stopped briefly in the neighboring region of Gao instead upon the news of the violence.

"A MINUSMA helicopter supported by another (French) unit... allowed the prime minister of Mali to arrive in Kidal," an official from the United Nations' MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Kidal told Agence France Presse.

The firefight was confirmed by an official from the local governor's office, who described it as "an act of sabotage of the prime minister's visit".

A member of Mara's entourage said gunfire was still audible in the town, although less intense.

An official from the governor's office told AFP that no one appeared to have been hurt in the exchange ​​but added that the situation was "very worrying".

Kidal, 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako, was the scene of anti-government protests by several hundred youths and women on Friday who demonstrated against the visit at the regional airport.

Witnesses said the protesters had thrown stones at security forces, while a Malian military source told AFP they were eventually dispersed by UN peacekeepers.

Mara's predecessor Oumar Tatam Ly was forced to cancel a trip in November to Kidal -- the stronghold of Mali's Tuareg separatist movement -- after protesters occupied a runway at the airport.

Residents in Kidal told AFP that at least 100 locals were heading back to the airport on Saturday to prevent Mara's arrival, although the premier landed at a MINUSMA military camp at a separate location, according to the U.N. source.

"MINUSMA strongly condemns these acts of violence which have continued since yesterday morning in the city of Kidal," the U.N. force said in a statement.

"Such developments are counterproductive and contrary to the will of the people of Mali, who aspire to peace and lasting stability," it said.

"MINUSMA calls on all parties concerned to ensure an immediate cessation of violence and restore calm."

The force said 19 of its police and seven protesters had been wounded in clashes since the demonstrations began, though none seriously.

Mara will visit Malian troops, accompanied by the regional governor, in a brief visit before leaving Kidal, a member of the delegation told AFP.

The premier's tour of the north started on Friday in the desert caravan town of Timbuktu, and he was due to move from Kidal to Gao on Sunday and Monday, although it was not immediately clear whether the itinerary would change.

Security for the tour is being provided by MINUSMA and the French army, which led an international military intervention in January last year against Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda who had occupied the north.