Mali expels spokesperson of UN peacekeeping mission in row over tweets

Mali is expelling the spokesman of the UN’s peacekeeping force in the country, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, citing posts he made on Twitter about a diplomatic incident with Ivory Coast that has soured relations with the UN.

Olivier Salgado, spokesman for the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), has been given 72 hours to leave over “tendentious and unacceptable” posts he made on Twitter, the government said in a statement.

Last week Mali announced it was suspending all new rotations of the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission, including those already scheduled, for “national security” reasons.

The announcement came just days after the Malian authorities arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers it later described as “mercenaries” intent on toppling the country’s military-led government.