SOMALIA GIVES ENVOY OF AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION SEVEN DAYS TO LEAVE COUNTRY

Fri 05 November 2021:

After declaring him persona non grata, Somalia has requested the African Union Commission (AUC) envoy in the country to depart within a week.

Somalia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that AUC deputy special representative in Mogadishu Simon Mulongo was no longer welcome in the country because he was involved “in activities [that are] incompatible with AMISOM’s (African Union Mission in Somalia) mandate and Somalia’s security strategy,”

He has seven days to depart Somalia, it continued, without elaborating on the decision.

Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirizak said in a Twitter post, that the Somali government “will hold accountable AMISOM person[n]el, particularly those at the leadership level, who are expected to be beyond reproach in their integrity as they discharge their duty under the UN/AU mandate”.

The FGS will hold accountable AMISOM personel, particularly those at the leadership level, who are expected to be beyond reproach in their integrity as they discharge their duty under the UN/AU mandate.

— Mohamed Abdirizak (@MAbdirizak) November 4, 2021

AMISOM forces first landed in Somalia in March 2007, according to the African Union.

Since then, the AMISOM military component has supported Somali national security forces in driving al-Qaeda-linked armed group al-Shabab out of most of southern Somalia’s major cities and towns.

_____________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent