rime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was arrested by members of the army and forced to resign. The swift appointment of the new interim Prime Minister Diango Cissoko, the country's former ombudsman, will facilitate the pursuit of talks initiated by the ECOWAS mediator Blaise Compaor4 with the Tuareg rebels of MN

the country's north. But the military has rebuffed any suggestion that it cannot handle the situation on its own. On Dec. 13, a new prime minister, Diango Cissoko, was sworn in and took office. . Authorizes Mali Force The next week, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution to send