French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius meets his Malian counterpart Tieman Coulibaly in Paris on Monday.

Their meeting comes as France pushes on with its military intervention in Mali.

French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds in the north of the country on Sunday, as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako.

France's Defense Minister said the air operations focused on the west of the country against heavily armed factions.

France is determined to end Islamist domination of northern Mali, which some leaders fear could act as a base for attacks on the West and for links with al Qaeda in Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.

French troops began the strikes last Friday after receiving a formal request from the authorities in Mali.