Somalia and ousted UN envoy face off at Security Council

A United Nations envoy who was recently ordered to leave Somalia warned Thursday about its "political turbulence," while its UN ambassador admonished the world body to stay out of his country's internal affairs.

Both addressed the Security Council at a regularly scheduled discussion that took on new overtones after Somalia announced Tuesday it was expelling Nicholas Haysom. Somalia's government said Haysom overstepped diplomatic bounds by questioning the arrest of an extremist group defector-turned-political candidate.

The UN has said little in public about the flap. Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday that the world body was seeking "further clarification" on the matter, but that Haysom continues to have the support of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who appointed Haysom in September as special representative for Somalia.

Haysom himself didn't directly address his apparent ouster. But while commending Somalia's progress on various political, economic and security initiatives, he said "continuing political turbulence could throw it off-course."
Somali Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, meanwhile, said the Horn of Africa nation appreciates the UN's help but "distinguishes between the institutions that we are part of and individuals' conduct that has a detrimental effect on our fragile nation."
Osman didn't mention Robow specifically on Thursday, but the ambassador said the potential election of "any individual with violent extremism history would represent a regressive step."