On the eve of a major international donors' conference, the European Union announced Tuesday it was pledging 520 million euros ($674.8 million) over the next two years to help rebuild the west African country of Mali as a functioning state.
The announcement was made by Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, who said the investment would benefit Europe as well as Africa.
Until a military intervention by France, followed by the engagement of other African countries, many international officials were concerned that Mali's vast, ungoverned north was a haven for terrorist groups that, unhindered by government control, could feel free to plot attacks anywhere in the world.
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