Somalia declares UN envoy 'persona non-grata'

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali government on Tuesday declared UN's envoy, Nickolas Haysom, to be persona non grata and cannot operate in the country, Garowe Online reports.

The government made the announcement in a statement published by the Foreign Ministry.

"Somali notifies UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres that the United Nations envoy Nicholas Haysom is persona non-grata in the country and cannot operate," read the statement in part.

The Ministry has accused Haysom of "blatantly violating protocols and deliberately interfering" in the Horn of Africa's internal affairs and sovereignty.

The decision followed a letter by the envoy in which he demanded answers from the government on the legal basis for the arrest of Mukhtar Robow and civilian deaths during protests in Baidoa city last month.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as his special representative for Somalia and head of the UN Assistance Mission in the country in September last year.

He succeeded Michael Keating of Britain.

UNSOM which was established on 3 June 2013 by the UN security council has engaged the Federal Government of Somalia, the Federal Parliament, the federal member states on the relevant processes related to Somalia’s peace-building and state-building fields.

The expel coincides with a mortar attack on UN compound in Halane, the main military base of AU Mission, [AMISOM] in Mogadishu on Tuesday. The shelling injured 2 UN staffers and one contractor.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group al-Shabab has immediately claimed the responsibility for the attack, the first such attack this new year, 2019.

GAROWE ONLINE