Balanced News: Burkina Faso government expels senior U.N. official

The UN coordinator in Burkina Faso, Italian Barbara Manzi, has been declared “persona non grata” and “asked to leave the country” on Friday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Ms. Barbara Manzi, resident coordinator of the United Nations system, is declared persona non grata on the territory of Burkina Faso. According to a diplomatic source, the expulsion is justified by the fact that Ms. Manzi recently “requested and obtained the withdrawal of non-essential personnel of the (UN) system from Burkina Faso”.