Congo asks UN mission spokesman to leave amid unrest

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE
Associated Press

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s government has requested that the spokesman for the United Nations mission in the country leave. It says Mathias Gillman has made inappropriate statements as the country grapples with demonstrations against the presence of the U.N. peacekeepers.  In correspondence from Congo’s foreign minister, Christophe Lutundula, to the U.N. mission known as MONUSCO, he said he considers that the current tensions between the U.N. and the population are due to the indelicate and inopportune statements by Gillman.  The U.N. has not yet responded. The government did not point to specific statements made by Gillman, but in July during a press conference, he mentioned that MONUSCO and the Congolese army have limited means to deal with several fronts of attacks.