GAO: French troops on Wednesday defused a homemade bomb they said contained 600 kilos  of explosives in the centre of northern Mali's largest city Gao, the target of several attacks by rebels in recent days.

The bomb, which was made of four metal barrels filled with explosives and connecting wires, was in the courtyard of an abandoned house, with heavy machine gun cartridges lying on the ground nearby and several smaller bombs inside the building, an AFP correspondent said.