NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 7- Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the African Union chair’s special representative for Somalia, has been declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
In a statement, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said he took stern action against Ambassador Madeira, “for engaging in acts that are incompatible with his status.”
The Prime Minister requested that the AU Commission recall Madeira and “comply with this request.”
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has however rejected the expulsion in what appears to be another dispute between the country’s top leaders.
In a statement, the president said that he had not authorized any action against Madeira.
He said, as the President, he had not received any reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madeira committing acts against the sovereignty of the country.
He said the PM did not have powers to make such a decision.
Madeira, who is from Mozambique, was appointed to the office in October 2015.
He is not the first foreign diplomat to be expelled from Somalia.
Simon Mulongo, Madeira’s deputy, was expelled in November.
The move to expel Madeira came just days after the U.N. Security Council authorized a new AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to operate in the country until the end of 2024. ATMIS replaces the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The U.N. mandate gives ATMIS forces to reduce the threat posed by al-Shabab, support the capacity-building of the integrated Somali security and police forces, and conduct a phased handover of security responsibilities to Somalia, according to the resolution.
ATMIS will have 19,626 troops, including at least 1,040 police personnel. It will operate in the country until December 2022, when it be reduced by 2,000 troops. The reduction of troops will continue in September 2023 and again in June 2024 by 2,000 troops each time until the mission ends in December 2024.
Under the new arrangement, the Somali government also commits to assuming security responsibilities from AU forces. The Somali government is required to generate more than 22,825 forces by June 2024 to take over from ATMIS.
Additional reporting by VOA.
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