By RFIPalled on 10-12-2019Modified on 10-12-2019 at 22:37
The head of the Minusma office in Kidal was dismissed and declared persona non grata by Bamako, following polemical remarks about the city of Kidal in early December.
Christophe Sevillon, a French national, had already been relieved of his duties as head of the Minusma bureau in Kidal by his hierarchy before Mali's decision to declare him persona non grata.
The UN diplomat has now 24 hours to leave the national territory. He was on Tuesday, December 10, on a plane from Kidal to Bamako when the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs made his official statement.
" The prime minister and the government have decided to declare persona non grata the head of the Minusma regional office in Kidal for what he said last week ," Tiébilé Dramé told reporters. Another UN official in Kidal has been appointed to fill the position.
" Delegations from Mali "
At the Congress of the Armed Movement MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad), held in Kidal - Malian city under the control of the former rebellion - who was then still the number 1 local Minusma spoke in his speech of " guests and members of delegations from Mali and abroad ".
Words immediately condemned firmly by civil society and the Malian government, saying that this statement could suggest that Kidal was not under Malian sovereignty. From then on, the fate of Christophe Sevillon was sealed. The UN wanted, it seems, a start without a crash. Bamako, very reassembled, was obviously in favor of the strong way.
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