At least 35 people died in clashes this week between Islamists and Tuareg rebels in the north Mali town of Gao, according to a new toll released on Saturday by a medical source.

'There were at least

The U.N. Security Council is not ready to agree to an African Union request for endorsement of military intervention in Mali, where rebels and Islamist militants have seized control of much of the country, council diplomats said on Friday.

Tuareg rebels and the Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine announced on Saturday they are joining forces and creating a body to rule northern Mali as an independent Islamic state.

"The Ansar Dine movement