NAIROBI, KENYA—Somalia’s government has ordered the United Nations envoy to the country to leave, amid questions over the arrest of the al-Shabab extremist group’s former deputy leader who had run for a regional presidency. A foreign ministry statement late Tuesday accuses Nicholas Haysom of diplomatic overreach that violated the Horn of Africa nation’s sovereignty, declaring him “persona non grata.” He arrived as envoy a few months ago. Nicholas Haysom, then the top UN envoy in Afghanistan, speaks during a press conference in Kabul in February 2015. In confirming Robow’s arrest, Somalia’s security ministry cited the federal government’s ban on his candidacy, which said he had not completed the defection process. A joint statement by the United States, more than a dozen countries, the AU mission and the United Nations expressed concern after the arrest and protests.

Source: thestar January 02, 2019 13:07 UTC