The Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs threatens to expel the acting head of the African Union mission

Somalia threatens to expel the acting head of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia

The Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs threatened to expel the Acting Head of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, Sivuel Bam, against whom the Ministry brought serious charges.

The Somali Foreign Minister, Ahmed Moalim Faki, described the African official as sympathetic to Al-Shabaab, and stated that he poses a threat to Somalia's security and development.

The minister indicated that Bam sends negative reports about the security situation in Somalia to international partners, ignoring the gains achieved by the Somali army and the local militias allied with it in their ongoing operations against Al-Shabaab.

The Somali Foreign Minister said: "He is spreading propaganda. He will be dealt with," adding: "There are people who work here for salaries, and they are also spreading propaganda."

Bam did not comment on the accusations against him by the Somali government, but in a statement he issued last week on the occasion of the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Somali National Army, he expressed his support for the army.

A briefing presented by the African official to the UN Security Council earlier this month in which he stated that Al-Shabaab still poses a threat and that it has re-established its bases near the capital, Mogadishu, angered the Somali government and caused a violent response to his statements, which the government considered undermining the efforts of the Somali forces.