Tuareg Separatists Make Election Deal With Malian Government

Scheduled for next month

A senior mediator says the Malian government and ethnic Tuareg rebels have agreed "in principle" on a deal that would allow elections to take place next month and the army to return to the rebel-held city of Kidal.

Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole said late Monday both sides were reviewing the document, and that he expected them to sign the accord on Tuesday.

Bassole says the army's return to Kidal was a key concern in three days of talks in Ouagadougou mediated by Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.