Britain's The Telegraph on Feb. 13 reports on a document reportedly found by their reporter in the ruins of a Gendarmerie Nationale barracks outside Timbuktu that had been used by the jihadists and then destroyed in a French air-strike. The document, purportedly the notes from a March 18, 2012 leadership meeting of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), chaired by AQIM "prince" Abu Musab Abdul Wadoud, is said to lay bare AQIM's plan to consolidate control of northern Mali, stating: "We had to think of the necessity to draw a plan to command and control the jihad activities there at this critical moment and target all efforts to achieve the required goals." The supposed document is portrayed as especially expressing concerns over Ansar Dine, the faction that controlled Timbuktu, as too independent.
An AP account claims their own reporter found the document, and identifies Wadoud as nom de guerre of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the AQIM top commander supposedly appointed by Osama bin Laden.
West African forces are finally starting to arrive in Mali, with the UK providing a C-17 transport plane to bring in troops and equipment from Ghana. Britain also said it would provide military advisors to support the Malian army and African-led intervention force. (AP, Feb. 14)
