Warriors and websites - a new kind of rebellion in Mali?

In a recent BBC interview Captain Sanogo said he was ready to talk: "I want all of them to come to the same table. My door is open. We can talk about and work through the peace process." It will be interesting to see who comes through the door. The latest in a series of rebel movements, the MNLA (Mouvement National pour la liberation de l'Azawad), which is fighting to carve out an independent state encompassing the regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu in northern Mali, prides itself on its military sophistication. "We don't just hit once and run off into the bush."

Senior figures in the MNLA may include Chief of Staff Mohamed Ag Najem, recruited directly from Libya. There is also a strong intellectual fringe: Moussa Ag Assari, a Paris-based writer and author of the memoir, "Il n'y a pas d'embouteillage dans le desert", ["There isn't much traffic in the desert"] is a spokesman.