ready to host a base for US drones monitoring movements by Al-Qaeda-linked groups currently based in northern Mali.

"If Niger has an opportunity to receive support in the shape of aircraft or drones to monitor suspicious movements from Mali, we will not turn our nose up at it," Defence Minister Karidjo Mahamadou told AFP.

He added however that he was not aware of any formal deal allowing the deployment of US drones on Niger's soil.

A US official said Monday that the Pentagon was planning to station drones in the region -- most likely in Niger -- to bolster surveillance of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies.

Washington has expressed fears that AQIM, one of the groups that seized control of northern Mali 10 months ago, was expandingWe seek solutions in democracy, de-centralisation, and development" between Mali's government and "legitimate representatives" from the north on Wednesday.

For nearly ten months, northern Mali was controlled by a motley mix of rebels groups -- including al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups such as Ansar Dine [Defenders of the Faith].

The fall of northern Mali into rebel hands was sparked by the MNLA's declaration of independence from the rest of Mali last year. But the Tuareg rebel group then lost control of vast tracts of the region to militant Islamist fighters.

During a lightening offensive, which began January 11, French troops, backed by Malian soldiers and a multinational West African force, met little or no resistance as they advanced over a vast desert territory the size of France.

The French troops entered Mali's remote