Mali rebels agree to security deal as step to peace accord - UN

Mali's Tuareg-led rebels have agreed to deals for a local ceasefire and more political guarantees as a step toward a U.N.-brokered peace agreement to end decades of uprisings in the north, the United Nations envoy said on Friday. Mali's government accepted a broad U.N.-brokered accord in March, but the rebel coalition delayed a final signing, saying it fell short of their demands, as fighting continued in the region that separatists call Azawad. U.N. envoy Mongi Hamdi said one arrangem