UN envoy addresses Somalia’s political turbulance

UN envoy Nicholas Haysom who was recently ordered to leave Somalia has warned about the ‘political turbulence’ in the East African nation. A report on the News24 site notes that the Somalian Government said Haysom overstepped diplomatic bounds by questioning the arrest of an extremist group defector Mukhtar Robow. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said the world body was seeking ‘further clarification’ on the matter, but that Haysom continues to have the support of secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Haysom said ‘continuing political turbulence could throw (Somalia) off-course.’ The deadly protests that followed Robow’s arrest do ‘not bode well’ for upcoming elections, Haysom said. ‘Politics is complex in any nation,’ he noted, but in a country trying to enshrine a stable system after decades of strife, ‘there is a risk that complexity shifts to conflict.’