US, France agree on need to hand over Mali operation to UN

PARIS - Visiting US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday said France and the United States agreed on the need to hand over Mali military operations to a United Nations mission when it is "prudent."

"We agreed on the need to as quickly as reasonably possible establish the African-led international mission in Mali and as quickly as is prudent transition that mission to the United Nations," he said after talks with French President Francois Hollande on issues concerning Mali, Syria and Iran.

Biden hailed Hollande's "decisiveness" in Mali and commended France's leading role in the fight against terrorism at a press conference.

Biden stressed the importance of working with "our regional partners to counter terrorism cross North African and beyond."

The US vice president arrived in Paris on Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference in southern Germany and will head for London for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.