Mali junta expels UN mission’s human rights chief

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The UN mission’s human rights chief has been given 48 hours to leave

Mali’s military government has given the head of the UN peacekeeping mission’s human rights division 48 hours to leave the country.

In a statement read out on national television, a government spokesman said Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali had committed “subversive actions” in his selection of witnesses to testify at UN Security Council briefings on Mali.

Last month, a Malian civil society activist who gave evidence at a UN meeting accused the government’s Russian military partners of serious human rights violations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due in Mali on Monday for a visit aimed at boosting defence and security ties.

It will be the first official visit to the West African nation by a Russian foreign minister.