ATTENTION FRENCH CLIENTS – EMBARGOED, RELEASABLE IN FRANCE ON APRIL 6, 2012 AT 18h30GMT. THIS RESTRICTION APPLIES TO ALL MEDIA, INCLUDING WEBSITES IN FRANCE AND FRENCH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES

TV grab shows a pick up truck with the Salafist flag, carrying supporters of the Islamist group Ansar Dine, on April 3, 2012 in Timbuktu. Mali’s National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) rebels declared independence on April 6, 2012 in the north, splitting the coup-wracked country in two, as warnings rang out of a humanitarian disaster in what was once considered Africa’s democratic success story. MNLA, captured northern Mali with Islamist groups over the past two weeks following a coup in the capital. AFP PHOTO / AFPTV / FRANCE 2