UN chief demands proof from Ethiopia after staff expulsion
Al Jazeera
Guterres demands proof of accusations against UN staff raised by Ethiopia’s ambassador during Security Council session.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded evidence from Ethiopia after seven UN staff were expelled for allegations of misconduct.
“It is my duty to defend the honour of the United Nations,” Guterres told reporters after a rare public exchange with Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie Amde at the end of a Security Council meeting on Wednesday the situation in the country.
The Ethiopian government last week expelled seven senior UN officials – most of them with the world body’s humanitarian agency – for “meddling” in internal affairs. Selassie expanded on that at the 15-member council, accusing the UN staff of taking sides in the war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and inflating the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis.
