Mali: Arms shipment 'sent from Burkina Faso'

Paris, 6 Sept. (AKI) - An arms shipment has been delivered to Islamist rebels in Mali, making its way across the border from neighbour Burkina Faso, according to the Paris-based Jeune Afrique magazine, citing the French secret service.

The weapons were delivered to Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (known by the French acronym MUJAO) rebels, an Al-Qaed offshoot, who emerged from al-Qaida's North Africa branch in 2011 with the aim of spreading jihad into Sub-Sahharan Africa, a report on the Francophone magazine's website reported

French authorities are "perplexed'' how a truckload of weapons could have departed from Burkina Faso for Mali in light of Burkina Faso foreign minister Djibrill Bassole's August trip to Paris where he proposed peace talks between rebels and Mali's government.

On Saturday the MUJAO seized control of the strategic town of Douentza, significantly adding to the territory held by Islamist insurgents, while moving significantly closer to government-held territory in central Mali.

The Islamist rebels have successfully seized towns as they fight their way south from Maili's north which they captured