The director of the UN peacekeeping mission's human rights section, Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali, has been given 48 hours by Mali's military government to leave the nation.

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.

Source: BBC