Bamako, Rabi'I 7, 1434, Jan 19, 2013, SPA - West African leaders meet Saturday to finalize plans to deploy additional troops to Mali to fight alongside French soldiers battling militants in the north. The meeting in the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan will address the conflict in Mali and how the region can work with the international community to resolve it, according to a report of CNN. Various heads of state will attend, including Burkina Faso and Nigeria, according to the Economic Community Of West African States, the regional bloc. The bloc has 3,300 regional troops on standby awaiting deployment. France intervened in Mali, its former colony, last week after militants started advancing toward the capital, forcing world leaders to fast-track decisions on resolving the crisis. French and Malian forces retook a key city from militants Friday, a French source said. Konna, the city recaptured, was the de facto line of government control. Militants said they seized it January 10, prompting France to start its offensive over fears that fighters were inching toward the capital. --SPA 12:15 LOCAL TIME 09:15 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1070049