Russian Ambassador to Mali Alexei Doulian was on Monday summoned to Mali's Foreign Ministry to explain the recent visit to Moscow by a delegation of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Malian official said.

The diplomat held talks with Mali's Foreign Minister Zahaby Sidi Ould Mohamed over the issue, the same source said without divulging more details.

The MNLA delegation led by its political head Bilal Ag Acherif met last week in Moscow with Mikahael Bognanov, Russia's deputy minister in charge of Africa and the Middle East, the rebel group said in a statement.

The visit came after a trip by a MNLA team to Morocco towards the end of January.

During a visit to Mali in February by Morocco's King Mohamed VI, the country's Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar affirmed that the king met with MNLA leaders upon their own request and naturally, with the consent of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The MNLA is reportedly facing internal rebellion led by Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, one of its former officials who wants to create a new movement for the Malian Tuaregs.

Negotiations between various Malian actors on the issue of "cantonment" of armed groups under the guidance of the special envoy of the UN secretary general began last Thursday in the capital Bamako without MNLA representatives.