Al-Qaida carves out own country in Mali

Lalla Arby, 22, who was beaten by Islamist group Ansar Dine for sitting outside her home in Timbuktu with her head uncovered, posed for a picture in a headscarf in Bamako, Mali, where she now lives with relatives. In recent months, al-Qaida and its allies have taken advantage of political instability within Mali to push out of their hiding place and into the towns, taking over an enormous territory which they are using to stock arms, train forces and prepare for global jihad.