Mali: France begins Mali withdrawal in north

French Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Gao to address troops and officers along with their African counterparts. His visit on Friday comes as a gradual withdrawal of more than 4,000 French troops from northern Mali gets underway, after it intervened to stop a rebel advance in January. A UN peacekeeping force is taking over the mission in July, but one thousand french troops will remain to assist. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Gao. His visit on Friday comes as a gradual withdrawal of more than 4,000 French troops from northern Mali gets underway, after it intervened to stop a rebel advance in January. A UN peacekeeping force is taking over the mission in July, but one thousand french troops will remain to assist. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Gao.