Mali crisis: Who's who?

Since the coup, rebels have taken over the towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal

Mali: Divided nation

Mali is in the grip of an unprecedented political crisis, one of the most serious since the landlocked West African country gained independence from France in 1960.

France has deployed troops after an appeal from the Malian government, in the face of a new rebel threat.
In April 2012, rebel groups, some with links to al-Qaeda, took control of the large areas of the north of the country - one of the poorest in the world. The army had seized power the previous month, accusing the elected government of being soft on the rebels. But while the military was distracted, the rebels made rapid advances.
Civil rule returned to the south with the speaker of parliament sworn in as interim president under a deal brokered by the West African regional bloc Ecowas, but political uncertainty remains.
Here is a guide to some of the main players in Mali.

The interim president

Dioncounda Traore

• Born in 1942 in the garrison town of Kati, just outside Bamako
• Holds a doctorate in mathematics
• Founding member in 1990 of the political party Alliance for Democracy in Mali
• Between 1992-1997, held various ministerial portfolios including defence and foreign affairs
• Elected as speaker of the National Assembly in 2007
• Sworn in as interim president of Mali in April 2012

Dioncounda Traore, 70, had long harboured presidential ambitions - but he had hoped to come to power in elections originally scheduled for April 2012.

He was born in 1942 in the garrison town of Kati, just outside of the capital Bamako.
He pursued his higher education in the then Soviet Union, Algeria and France, where he was awarded a doctorate in mathematics.
He returned to Mali to teach at university - before getting involved in politics.
He was a founding member in 1990 of the political party Alliance for Democracy in Mali and between 1992-1997 he held various ministerial portfolios including defence and foreign affairs.
In 2007, he was elected as speaker of the National Assembly.
He was an ally of the deposed President Amadou Toumani Toure, who had become deeply unpopular.
As a consequence, many Malians are wary of Mr Traore - who is not seen as charismatic, Bamako-based journalist Martin Vogl says.
This boiled over in May, when supporters of the coup attacked Mr Traore in his office, forcing him to seek medical treatment in France.
When Islamist rebels launched a fresh offensive, entering the central town of Konna, the interim president appealed to France for military help.
He declared a state of emergency, arguing that the rebels wanted to expand "criminal activities" across the country.

The coup leader

The March 2012 coup seems to have been spontaneous, arising out of a mutiny that erupted at the Kati military camp located about 10km (six miles) from the presidential palace in Bamako.
It was led by a mid-ranking army officer Capt Amadou Sanogo, one of the few officers who did not flee the Kati camp when the rank-and-file soldiers began rioting and then headed for the seat of government.
Capt Sanogo, who is in his late 30s, is from Segou, Mali's second largest town some 240km (150 miles) north of Bamako, where his father worked as a nurse at Segou's medical centre.
Journalist Martin Vogl in Bamako describes the army officer as a forceful, confident and charismatic man, friendly but with a slightly abrupt manner.
In the army all his professional life, Capt Sanogo received some of his military training in the US - including intelligence training.
Capt Sanogo has hinted that he may play a future role in Mali's politics - despite formally handing over power.

The rebels

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamist Ansar Dine were the two major Tuareg groups involved in the takeover of the north of Mali - an area the size of France.

Who are the Tuareg?

• Sometimes called the Blue People because the indigo used in some traditional robes and turbans dye their skins dark blue
• Historically nomadic Berber people who live in the Sahara and Sahel regions of Libya, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, which they call Azawad
• When camels were introduced into the Sahara 2,000 years ago, the Tuareg became the main operators of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in commodities such as salt and gold
• Lost out when trade switched to the Atlantic Ocean
• The Tuareg in Mali say they face discrimination because they are light-skinned and have been neglected by the government in far-off Bamako
• They prefer to call themselves themselves the Kel Tamasheq or speakers of Tamasheq - their language which has its own alphabet

Other small groups have also taken part in the fighting, including the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao).

Despite having very different aims, MNLA and Ansar Dine have joined forces to fight together from time to time, including in the capture of Timbuktu - but there are serious tensions between them, which have bubbled over into clashes between the two groups.
The MNLA grouping wants independence for the Tuareg's northern homeland, which it calls Azawad.
Two important figures in the MNLA are the general secretary Bila Ag Cherif and Mohamed Ag Najim, the head of the movement's military wing.
In the ranks of the MNLA are Malian Tuareg who, while in exile in Libya, fought alongside Col Gaddafi's forces as he tried to cling to power in Libya.
Once he was toppled, they returned to Mali - well-trained and with plenty of heavy weaponry.
But it is the Islamists of Ansar Dine and Mujao who now control all three of the region's main cities - Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal.
Both Ansar Dine, led by a renowned former Tuareg rebel leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, and Mujao have taken part in the rebel sweep south in early 2013.
An Ansar Dine spokesman said they had entered the central town of Konna for "jihad [holy war]".
The group has ties to al-Qaeda's north Africa branch, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. There are unconfirmed reports of foreign jihadist fighters, possibly including Nigeria's Boko Haram, setting up training camps in rebel-held areas.
Ansar Dine says it has not been fighting for independence - it wants to remain part of Mali but wants to introduce Sharia across the whole country, which is largely Muslim.
Mali analyst Andy Morgan says the Islamists are much richer than the MNLA as they have been earning money in recent years by kidnapping Westerners for ransom and trafficking cocaine, hashish and cigarettes.
He estimates that the MNLA has 2-3,000 fighters - about the same as the Islamist groups combined.

The ousted president

Amadou Toumani Toure - the army general widely credited with rescuing Mali from military dictatorship and establishing democracy in Mali - was deposed as president by a coup in March.
Known as ATT, his term of office was due in April anyway and on 8 April he formally resigned.
However, after several of his allies were subsequently arrested, he fled to neighbouring Senegal.
Mr Toure himself first came to power in a coup in 1991 - overthrowing military ruler Moussa Traore when security forces killed more than 100 pro-democracy demonstrators.
He handed power back to civilian rule the following year - gaining respect and the nickname "soldier of democracy".
He went on to win presidential elections in May 2002, and was re-elected in 2007.
But he became deeply unpopular as people became increasingly frustrated with his government for doing little to tackle corruption and the growing insecurity and eventual rebellion in the north.
Born in 1948, ATT has no official party - and had always sought the backing of as many political groupings as possible.

Source bbc.co.uk