BAMAKO (Reuters) -Mali’s military government on Wednesday ordered the spokesman of the United Nations peacekeeping mission MINUSMA to leave the country within 72 hours over tweets about a diplomatic incident with Ivory Coast that has soured relations with the U.N.
Military leaders that seized power in an August 2020 coup have been at odds with regional neighbours and international partners over election delays, alleged army abuses and cooperation with Russian mercenaries amid a spiralling Islamist insurgency.
The junta temporarily suspended MINUSMA troop rotations last week, days after the arrest of 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast authorities said had arrived in the country without permission.
It ordered MINUSMA Deputy Director of Communications Olivier Salgado to leave Mali within three days from Wednesday for publishing “tendentious and unacceptable” Twitter posts about the arrest.
He Tweeted “without proof” that authorities had been informed about the Ivorian troops’ arrival, the government said in a statement.
Salgado declined to comment.
(Reporting by Fadima KontaoAdditional reporting and writing by Sofia Christensen in DakarEditing by James Macharia Chege)
