Somalia orders top UN envoy to leave country

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Somalia’s government ordered the UN’s top envoy to the East African country to leave “with immediate effect”, citing his intervention in national sovereignty.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said the decision was reached “after the highest UN diplomat in Somalia violated the agency's standards and the international diplomatic norms by intervening the national sovereignty of Somalia.”

The decision came after Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, sent a letter to the Interior Ministry on Dec. 30 questioning the conduct of UN-backed Somalia security forces in recent attacks that left several people dead.

Haysom, appointed in September, was declared persona non grata the same day.

The statement by the Foreign Ministry didn’t note top envoy's letter as the reason for him being kicked out of the troubled country, though.

Meanwhile, there was no immediate comment from the U.N. mission in the country.

On Tuesday, the highly guarded UN compound in Somalia was attacked by seven mortars, leaving two UN staff members and one contractor wounded.

Haysom strongly condemned the attack.