• Islamists block aid at gates of Timbuktu

• Talks to release convoy unresolved

• Northern Mali in chaos since coup, rebellion

TIMBUKTU, May 15 (Reuters) - Mali's Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine blocked an aid convoy with tonnes of food and medical supplies for the northern city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, objecting to the presence of women in a reception committee set up for the aid.

The convoy marked the first aid deployed to Timbuktu since Mali's government lost control of the vast northern region to separatist and Islamist rebels who capitalised on a March 22 coup in the capital Bamako to make a swift advance.

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