MALI-CONFLICT-PEACE-ALGERIA

Members of armed groups from northern Mali who were prisoners of Malian authorities prepare to embark aboard a plane at Bamako's airport on July 15, 2014 after their exchange with forty-five Malian soldiers and police captured during clashes at the end of May in the west African nation's restive northeast. They are due to be to returned to their homeland, known by the Tuareg as "Azawad". The event took pace on the eve of talks, in Algiers, between Malian government negotiators and rebel groups aimed at striking an elusive peace deal, with the country mired in conflict a year after returning to democracy. The Algiers meeting brings together the various warring factions for the first time since an interim agreement in June 2013 paved the way for nationwide elections. AFP PHOTO HABIBOU KOUYATE (Photo credit should read HABIBOU KOUYATE/AFP via Getty Images)