STORY: Dioncounda Traore was sworn in as interim president of the West African country of Mali on Thursday (April 12) . His inauguration marked a return to civilian rule after a failed coup last month.br br Also in attendance was the leader of the military coup Amadou Sanogo.br br Mali's north, a zone larger than France, has been hit by pillaging and reports of human rights abuses including rapes and killings since the rebel seizures of key towns. Mali's neighbors and security experts fear this heralds the emergence of a new "rogue state" providing a haven for local al Qaeda allies and Islamists who are currently seeking to impose sharia law on the parts of northern territory they control.