By Marine Pennetier and Tiemoko Diallo PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - A French soldier was killed in the first suicide bombing targeting France's forces in northern Mali, where local and foreign troops are struggling to restore order after putting down an Islamist insurgency last year, officials said. The attack came just days before French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was due to visit Mali and President Francois Hollande's visit to West Africa later this week. Both had been expected to play up the improved security situation in Mali and tout the planned reorganization of France's 1,700 troops there into a regional counter-terrorism operation. He was part of a monitoring mission in the Al Moustarat region north of Gao, Colonel Gilles Jaron, an army spokesman, said.
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