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Two Islamist policemen, among them Ivorian Ahmed El Guedir (L), patrol in the streets of Gao, northern Mali, on July 16, 2012. Mali, once one of west Africa’s most stable democracies, was plunged into turmoil on March 22, 2012 when a band of soldiers seized power in the capital Bamako, saying they were fed up with how the president was handling a Tuareg rebellion in the north. The ensuing chaos created a power vacuum and enabled the Tuareg ethnic rebels and Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters to seize the northern half of the country. AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO