Malian soldiers guard suspected Islamist extremists after
throwing them in the back of the army truck in Gao, northern
Mali, Tuesday. Four suspects were Malian soldiers guard
suspected Islamist extremists after throwing them in the back of
the army truck in Gao, northern Mali, Tuesday. Four suspects
were arrested after being found by a youth militia calling
themselves the "Gao Patrolmen." Malian soldiers prevented the
mob from lynching them. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)  DIABALY, Mali —
Most of the rebels who took over this central town for five days
this month were Malian and spoke the local languages of the
north and the south. But their commanders were different, local
residents said. They were foreigners who spoke Arabic.  Six
bodyguards protected the most senior commander with the gray-
speckled beard and black turban. The Islamist militant ate
Algerian-made spaghetti and Mauritanian-made canned tomato
sauce. Malian fighters only served as his translators or brought
him intelligence reports.  "The Arabic speak