Analysis: Israel left wing sees Jewish state's end

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An apocalyptic tone has crept into Israel's hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others sounding increasingly desperate warnings that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily favored right wing might well destroy the Jewish state.

The idea is that by holding onto the lands Palestinians want for their state — and continuing to settle them with Jews — the Israeli right is marching blindly toward a future in which Arabs could outnumber Jews in the country and ultimately take over.

Perhaps the most strident proponent of this message is former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who four years ago led peace talks with the Palestinians and recently founded a new party whose primary message is that the Zionist project is in danger. "Netanyahu is leading us toward the end of the Jewish state," she said in a statement Friday. "Israelis must choose between extremism and Zionism. Israel is in great danger and everyone must wake up now."

Outgoing opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, a former military chief and defense minister, warns at campaign appearances that Arabs will soon outnumber Jews in the Holy Land and the main strategic priority must be to partition the land to prevent the emergence of a "binational state." Leaders of the main center-left Labor Party say much the same.

Netanyahu's majority depends on his Likud party in coalition with other nationalist and religious groups known as the "right." Despite all its bewildering complications, the political spectrum ultimately resembles something of a two-party system.

The prime minister and his supporters have argued that Israel must not act in haste and many on the right stridently oppose any territorial concessions on the lands Israel captured in 1967 — the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinians want to set up their state.

The author Amos Oz, who has long been viewed as an oracle of sorts in Israel, called the governing coalition "the most anti-Zionist in the history of Israel" for ignoring the demographic issue.

"If there will not be two states here, neither will it (even) be a binational state — it will be an Arab state," he was quoted by Haaretz as saying on Friday. "They believe Jews can rule an Arab majority (but) no apartheid nation in the world survived without collapsing in a few years."

Netanyahu himself has at times conceded the logic of the argument: Israel proper has 6 million Jews living alongside almost 2 million Arab citizens; with the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza thrown into the mix, the populations divide about evenly and the Arab birthrate is higher. Hence, ifIsrael insists on ruling the entire Holy Land, Jews will be in the minority.

Even as the tipping point approaches, Israel continues to add to the Jewish settler population in the West Bank, which together with the Israelis who live in adjacent east Jerusalem now number a half million. Israelis on the left fret that too many settlers will make a partition impossible in a few years. Under this narrative, partition is not an Israeli "concession," which must await Palestinian promises of peace — but rather a life-saving surgery for the Zionist enterprise.

The demographic message resonates with many Jewish Israelis who — like the founding fathers of Zionism a century ago — view themselves as an ethnic group and consider Israel its nation-state. And it seems widely supported among the country's secular elites — in academia, the business world, major media organizations and even in the senior echelons of the security establishment.

Israel's security chiefs must generally clam up while in office, but outbursts by the recently retired have been striking: Yuval Diskin, who headed the Shin Bet security police, excoriated Netanyahu for missing a chance to pursue peace with the moderate Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas; Meir Dagan, who headed the Mossad spy agency, has portrayed the premier as a dangerous adventurer who might drag Israel into war with Iran; and former military chief Gabi Ashkenazi was so widely touted as a leader-in-waiting for the left that a law was passed freezing security officials out of politics for just long enough to keep him out of the current election season.

In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Diskin warned that the current lull in Palestinian violence was in danger because it depends on the Palestinian Authority's security cooperation with Israel — and Palestinian leaders "will not be able to be seen over time as the protectors of the Israeli interests while Israel, from their perspective, every day steals more lands, builds more (Jewish) settlements, and pushes away their dream of a state, chopping up the territory into parts that it will be very difficult to connect."

"I don't know whether it is possible to achieve peace, but with these moves we are certainly diminishing even the small chance that is left," Diskin said.

Yaron Ezrahi, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said it was "not surprising that in Israel the officers are more moderate ... as men of war who lost (friends) they become pragmatists because they all sense very clearly the limitations of power." But he warned that the broad support of a country's elites for a given political argument would not necessarily translate into a persuasion of the masses.

Indeed, most polls show the right-wing bloc led by Likud as likely to win perhaps 65 of the 120 seats, enough to keep Netanyahu in power — even though studies suggest most Israelis would support a formal two-state solution if one were offered.

There are several reasons that account for this contradiction and compel so many Israelis to put the demographic issue aside.

First, Israel pulled out of the tiny but crowded Gaza Strip in 2005, removing all settlers and soldiers and cutting off its almost 2 million people from Israel with a fence. Thus many Israelis feel they won some "demographic time" and dumped the troublesome territory — yet the Palestinians see Gaza as linked to the West Bank and they consider it still occupied because Israel controls air and sea access to it.

Second, the vast majority of West Bank Palestinians live in autonomous zones set up in negotiations during the 1990s. There the Palestinian Authority enjoys a measure of self-rule, with its own services to citizens, its own police and various trappings of quasi-statehood — enabling Israelis to view this population as not exactly under occupation and already somewhat separated from Israel. They note that Israel has not formally annexed the West Bank, the implication being that even though the territory has Jewish settlers who can vote in Israeli elections — it is not Israel.

But the reality is messy: dozens of islands of autonomy surrounded on all sides by the 60 percent of the West Bank still fully controlled by Israel, with Jewish settlements dotting the territory and Israel controlling Palestinians' movements between the zones and into and out of the West Bank. With the settlements in place, a reasonable-looking map is already difficult to envision.

Perhaps most damaging for the left, Israelis appear to have lost faith that the lands can be traded for peace, because even when their leaders proposed what they considered far-reaching offers no deal was reached. That happened under Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2001, and again when the government of Ehud Olmert proposed a state on almost all the Palestinian territories in 2008.

One poll conducted several weeks ago showed 60 percent of Israeli Jews support a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians — but 67 percent believe that "no matter which parties prevail, the peace process with the Palestinians will remain at a standstill for reasons not connected to Israel." The poll of 601 people had a 4.5 percent margin of error.

Some — like columnist Elia Leibowitz — argue for a unilateral pullout from at least part of the territory, if a deal is unattainable. "The fateful question now facing Israel is Hamlet's: To be or not to be," Leibowitz wrote in Haaretz. "The option of Israel 'being' exists only if it withdraws from all the occupied territories."

But the unilateral model has been discredited in the eyes of many by the example of Gaza where the Israeli handover was followed by a takeover by the Islamic militant group Hamas and years of cross-border rocket barrages.

"As opposed to the voices that I have heard recently urging me to run forward, make concessions (and) withdraw, I think that the diplomatic process must be managed responsibly and sagaciously and not in undue haste," Netanyahu said last week. He notes that he has offered peace talks but the Palestinians insist on a settlement freeze, which is politically difficult for a right-wing government.

The sense that they have run out of options — and yet that something has to give — has some on the left predicting the world will step in.

"Maybe we need to hit rock bottom, to be on the verge of international sanctions or a (foreign) military intervention before change can happen," said Liora Norwich, a 30-year-old in a Tel Aviv cafe, concluding that in this sense a Netanyahu victory could be for the best.

And critically, the demographic argument alienates the Israeli Arabs who are crucial to any hopes of assembling a majority in the electorate against the right. Unlike the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, they are citizens of Israel who can vote. But about half don't bother — a much lower participation level than that of the Jews — greatly diminishing the chances of the left to prevail.

Among that group as well, the idea that a separation is no longer possible is increasingly heard.

"Every day that passes, with the expansion of settlements ... closes the window of opportunity and sends people thinking about another option: the one-state solution," prominent Arab legislator Ahmed Tibi said.

Contemplating such as Arab-majority state, Tibi added: "That's probably the only option in which I will be prime minister."

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Dan Perry has reported on the Middle East for two decades and currently leads AP's coverage in the region. Follow him on www.twitter.com/perry_dan . Associated Press writer Ariel David in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

Biden draws NRA ire in drive against gun violence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden butted heads with the powerful National Rifle Association on Thursday in his drive to reduce U.S. gun violence, drawing complaints from the lobby group that the White House is trying to limit constitutionally protected gun rights.

Biden sat down for about an hour and a half of talks with an NRA representative and officials from other gun owners' groups after telling reporters he is likely to recommend background checks for all gun buyers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.

"It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen," the NRA said in a statement after the meeting.

Biden is heading a task force on reducing gun violence formed after a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults last month at a Connecticut elementary school. Biden said he will make recommendations to President Barack Obama by next Tuesday.

The strong reaction by the NRA, a lobbying organization known for its influence with many lawmakers of both parties, illustrated the difficulty of changing gun laws in a country long accustomed to being able to purchase firearms under relatively loose regulations.

The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms.

The Biden task force is trying to reach a consensus on a set of recommendations quickly while there is still a mood for action in Congress after the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.

Adding urgency to the gun debate, a student armed with a shotgun opened fire at a California high school on Thursday, critically wounding a fellow student before two adult staff members talked the boy into giving up his weapon.

Moving quickly for Washington, Biden plans to turn over recommendations to Obama after only a few weeks of work. Biden said there is only a "tight window" for action.

"There is nothing that has pricked the consciousness of the American people (and) there is nothing that has gone to the heart of the matter more than the image people have of little 6-year-old kids riddled - not shot, but riddled, riddled - with bullet holes in their classroom," Biden said.

Attorney General Eric Holder also held talks on Thursday with major retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest U.S. gun seller, as well as Bass Pro Shops and Dick's Sporting Goods.

The Biden task force is grappling with elements that go beyond gun control measures, also looking into aspects of American popular culture.

The group held talks on Thursday with representatives of the movie industry and will also hear on Friday from the video game business. Both industries routinely feature gun violence.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Meeting earlier with hunting and outdoor sports groups, Biden said two of his task force's recommendations are likely to be universal background checks for gun purchasers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips like the ones used in the Connecticut massacre.

The background check requirement would extend to all gun purchasers. This would close the "gun show loophole" in which vendors at open-air gun sales events can sell without a background check on the purchaser. It would also extend to private sales such as those conducted over the Internet.

The task force might also propose a ban on assault weapons like the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used by the gunman in Newtown.

"There's an emerging set of recommendations not coming from me, but coming from the groups we've met with," Biden said.

Biden's office had no substantive reaction to the NRA statement, issued less than an hour after the talks ended.

"We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment," the NRA said.

"While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners - honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans," the NRA added.

The NRA, which proposed after the Newtown shootings that armed security officers be stationed at U.S. schools, vowed to take "our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works - and what does not."

Obama will review the Biden group's ideas, decide which ones he wants to keep and then announce "a package of actions and proposals," the White House said. Obama will seek legislative action by Congress but may also try to get some of his objectives done through presidential executive orders.

U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new gun law since 1994. A U.S. assault weapons ban lapsed in 2004.

More than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Biden's task force in a letter that research restrictions pushed by the NRA have stopped the United States from finding solutions to gun violence.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cut gun safety research by 96 percent since the mid-1990s, according to one estimate. Congress, pushed by the gun lobby, in 1996 put restrictions on CDC funding of gun research. Restrictions on other agencies were added in later years.

Biden said he would like federal agencies to have the ability to get information on what kind of weapons are used most to kill people and what kind of weapons are the most trafficked.

"I'm no great hunter - it's mostly skeet shooting for me - I don't quite understand why everybody would be afraid of whether or not we determine what is happening," he said.

Some journalists were allowed in for part of Biden's meeting with hunting groups such as Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever. No such news coverage was arranged for the NRA meeting.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)

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Pakistani Shiites refuse to bury 50 bomb victims

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — About 1,000 Pakistani Shiites are protesting in the southwest for a second day, blocking a main road with the bodies of relatives killed in a bombing to demand the government provide better security.

Police in the city of Quetta had earlier said that the protest had ended, but Shiite leader Ibrahim Hazara said Saturday that it would continue until the city is handed over to the army and the provincial government dismissed. Some 50 coffins are blocking the road.

The Shiites are protesting to condemn security lapses they say are responsible for Thursday's twin bombings of a billiards hall that killed 86 people. The dead included police, rescuers and journalists who rushed there to respond to the first attack.

French forces launch military operations against Islamist extremists in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali - With Islamist militants controlling more than half of the northwest African nation of Mali and threatening the rest of government-held territory, France launched airstrikes in a dramatic escalation of the conflict that some observers have called the next Afghanistan. French commandoes also reportedly attacked an Islamist base in Somalia to try to rescue a French hostage.

The raid early Saturday in Somalia could have been aimed at preventing al-Shabab fighters from harming the kidnapped French security official in reprisal for the French military intervention in Mali. A Somali intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case with the news media, said the raid in Bulomarer killed "several" al-Shabab fighters but he had no information on the hostage.

French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" innorthern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary."

France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.

The arrival of the French troops in their former colony came a day after the Islamists moved the closest yet toward territory still under government control and fought the Malian military for the first time in months, seizing the strategic city of Konna.

Sanda Abou Moahmed, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine group, condemned Mali's president for seeking military help from its former colonizer.

"While Dioncounda Traore asked for help from France, we ask for guidance from Allah and from other Muslims in our sub-region because this war has become a war against the crusaders," he said by telephone from Timbuktu.

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

"French armed forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements," Hollande said in Paris.

He did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.

Saturday's raid in Somalia was swift and loud, local residents said. The Somali intelligence official said the French commandos were trying to rescue a kidnapped military adviser who they were tipped off was being held there. A French security adviser was kidnapped by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab in Mogadishu, the capital, in 2009.

"We heard a series of explosions followed by gunfire just seconds after a helicopter flew over the town," Mohamed Ali, a resident of Bulomarer, told The Associated Press by phone. "We don't know exactly what happened but the place was an al-Shabab base and checkpoint."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that in Mali, France had carried out airstrikes. He refused to give details for security reasons.

France is operating helicopter gunships in Mali, two diplomats told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation publicly. French special forces, who have been operating in the region recently, are also believed to be taking part in the military operation, one diplomat said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the AP that Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.

Residents in central Mali said they had seen Western military personnel arriving in the area, with planes landing at a nearby airport throughout the night.

Col. Abdrahmane Baby, a military operations adviser for the foreign affairs ministry, confirmed in the Malian capital of Bamako that French forces had arrived in the country but gave no details.

"They are here to assist the Malian army," he told reporters.

Traore went on national television Friday night to declare the state of emergency, saying it would remain in effect for 10 days and could be renewed.

"The situation on the front is over all under control," he said.

Traore called on mining companies and nongovernment organizations to turn their trucks over to Malian military, raising questions about the army's ability.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was "deeply concerned" by events in Mali, and that Washington was closely consulting with Paris. She said neither France nor Mali has asked for U.S. military assistance.

France has led a diplomatic push for international action in northern Mali but efforts to get an African-led force together, or to train the weak Malian army, have dragged.

The French quickly mobilized after the Islamists seized the city of Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali. Late Friday, Malian Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the government had not been able to recapture the town.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the capture of Konna and urged U.N. member states to assist Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups."

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the U.N.

The Security Council authorized the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

The fighting Wednesday and Thursday for Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no farther until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometres) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River.

A soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, acknowledged that the army had retreated from Konna. He said several soldiers were killed and wounded, though he did not have precise casualty figures.

Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam.

In recent months, however, the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they are using to stock weapons and train forces.

Turbaned fighters control major towns in the north, carrying out amputations in public squares just as the Taliban did. And like in Afghanistan, they are flogging women for not covering up. Since taking control of Timbuktu, they have destroyed seven of the 16 mausoleums listed as world heritage sites.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his government was taking action because "in recent days, the situation unfortunately deteriorated very seriously."

The delay by the international community in taking action allowed "the terrorist and criminal groups of northern Mali ... to move toward the south with the goal of ... installing a terrorist state."

The Islamists insist they want to impose Shariah only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push farther south. Bamako, the capital, is 435 miles (700 kilometres) from Islamist-held territory.

Hollande said the French government will address parliament on Monday about the operation.

The intervention earned quick, widespread support from leading voices inside France across the political spectrum. Even far right leader Marine Le Pen — one of the many critics of the unpopular Hollande — called the Socialist leader's action "legitimate."

France has hundreds of troops across western Africa, with bases or sites in places such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Chad and Gabon. However, Hollande has said that he wants to create a new relationship with former colonies in Africa.

The operation in Mali is the first military intervention under his leadership, and comes just weeks after he pulled out France's last combat troops out of Afghanistan, ending an increasingly unpopular 11-year presence there.

France was a leading force in the NATO operation against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's forces in 2011. Also that year, France played a driving role in an international military intervention to oust Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to leave power after disputed elections. Both of those operations were under Hollande's predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia, Angela Charlton and Jamey Keaten in Paris; Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal; Bradley Klapper in Washington; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Mali war escalates with French intervention

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012 file photo, fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group Ansar Dine leave after performing a public amputation, severing the hand of a young man found guilty of stealing rice, in Timbuktu, Mali. France launched a military operation Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 to help the government of Mali defeat al-Qaida-linked militants who captured more ground this week, dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2012 file photo, fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard in Timbuktu, Mali, as they prepare to publicly lash a member of the Islamic Police found guilty of adultery. Mali once enjoyed a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies with more than 90 percent of its 15 million people practicing a moderate form of Islam. That changed in April 2012, when Islamist extremists took over the main cities in the country's north amid disarray following a military coup and began enforcing strict Shariah law. (AP Photo/File)

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — With Islamist militants controlling more than half of the northwest African nation of Mali and threatening the rest of government-held territory, France launched airstrikes in a dramatic escalation of the conflict that some observers have called the next Afghanistan. French commandoes also reportedly attacked an Islamist base in Somalia to try to rescue a French hostage.

The raid early Saturday in Somalia could have been aimed at preventing al-Shabab fighters from harming the kidnapped French security official in reprisal for the French military intervention in Mali. A Somali intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case with the news media, said the raid in Bulomarer killed "several" al-Shabab fighters but he had no information on the hostage.

An al-Shabab official confirmed the fighting and said the group held one dead French soldier. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

However, the office of Col. Thierry Burkhard, the French military's main spokesman for overseas operations, said it had no information about any Somalia action.

French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" innorthern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary."

France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.

The arrival of the French troops in their former colony came a day after the Islamists moved the closest yet toward territory still under government control and fought the Malian military for the first time in months, seizing the strategic city of Konna.

Sanda Abou Moahmed, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine group, condemned Mali's president for seeking military help from its former colonizer.

"While Dioncounda Traore asked for help from France, we ask for guidance from Allah and from other Muslims in our sub-region because this war has become a war against the crusaders," he said by telephone from Timbuktu.

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swath of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

"French armed forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements," Hollande said in Paris.

He did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.

Saturday's raid in Somalia was swift and loud, local residents said. The Somali intelligence official said the French commandos were trying to rescue a kidnapped military adviser who they were tipped off was being held there. A French security adviser was kidnapped by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab in Mogadishu, the capital, in 2009.

"We heard a series of explosions followed by gunfire just seconds after a helicopter flew over the town," Mohamed Ali, a resident of Bulomarer, told The Associated Press by phone. "We don't know exactly what happened but the place was an al-Shabab base and checkpoint."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that in Mali, France had carried out airstrikes. He refused to give details for security reasons.

France is operating helicopter gunships in Mali, two diplomats told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation publicly. French special forces, who have been operating in the region recently, are also believed to be taking part in the military operation, one diplomat said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the AP that Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.

Residents in central Mali said they had seen Western military personnel arriving in the area, with planes landing at a nearby airport throughout the night.

Col. Abdrahmane Baby, a military operations adviser for the foreign affairs ministry, confirmed in the Malian capital of Bamako that French forces had arrived in the country but gave no details.

"They are here to assist the Malian army," he told reporters.

Traore went on national television Friday night to declare the state of emergency, saying it would remain in effect for 10 days and could be renewed.

"The situation on the front is over all under control," he said.

Traore called on mining companies and nongovernment organizations to turn their trucks over to Malian military, raising questions about the army's ability.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was "deeply concerned" by events in Mali, and that Washington was closely consulting with Paris. She said neither France nor Mali has asked for U.S. military assistance.

France has led a diplomatic push for international action in northern Mali but efforts to get an African-led force together, or to train the weak Malian army, have dragged.

The French quickly mobilized after the Islamists seized the city of Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali. Late Friday, Malian Lt. Col. Diarran Kone said the government had not been able to recapture the town.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the capture of Konna and urged U.N. member states to assist Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups."

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the U.N.

The Security Council authorized the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

The fighting Wednesday and Thursday for Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no farther until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River.

A soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, acknowledged that the army had retreated from Konna. He said several soldiers were killed and wounded, though he did not have precise casualty figures.

Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam.

In recent months, however, the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they are using to stock weapons and train forces.

Turbaned fighters control major towns in the north, carrying out amputations in public squares just as the Taliban did. And like in Afghanistan, they are flogging women for not covering up. Since taking control of Timbuktu, they have destroyed seven of the 16 mausoleums listed as world heritage sites.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his government was taking action because "in recent days, the situation unfortunately deteriorated very seriously."

The delay by the international community in taking action allowed "the terrorist and criminal groups of northern Mali ... to move toward the south with the goal of ... installing a terrorist state."

The Islamists insist they want to impose Shariah only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push farther south. Bamako, the capital, is 435 miles (700 kilometers) from Islamist-held territory.

Hollande said the French government will address parliament on Monday about the operation.

The intervention earned quick, widespread support from leading voices inside France across the political spectrum. Even far right leader Marine Le Pen — one of the many critics of the unpopular Hollande — called the Socialist leader's action "legitimate."

France has hundreds of troops across western Africa, with bases or sites in places such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Chad and Gabon. However, Hollande has said that he wants to create a new relationship with former colonies in Africa.

The operation in Mali is the first military intervention under his leadership, and comes just weeks after he pulled out France's last combat troops out of Afghanistan, ending an increasingly unpopular 11-year presence there.

France was a leading force in the NATO operation against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's forces in 2011. Also that year, France played a driving role in an international military intervention to oust Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to leave power after disputed elections. Both of those operations were under Hollande's predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia, Angela Charlton and Jamey Keaten in Paris; Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal; Bradley Klapper in Washington; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Baba Ahmed can be reached at www.twitter.com/Babahmed1