Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has dismissed a move by the prime minister to expel the African Union’s special representative in the country.

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble earlier said that Francisco Madeira had been declared persona non grata for engaging in “acts that are incompatible with his status”.

In a statement, he said that the AU representative had 48 hours to leave the country.

But dismissing the move, Mr Farmajo said the government “doesn’t endorse any illegal action” and “our foreign policy is not anchored on emotions and vested interests against Mr Madeira”.

The counter action comes amid a long-running fractious relationship between President Farmajo and the prime minister.

Political tensions between the two have been blamed for delays in concluding parliamentary elections that have been running since last February.

Mr Madeira, who is from Mozambique, was appointed to the AU position in 2015.

The latest incident comes days after the UN Security Council and the AU established a new mission for Somalia called the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.

It replaces the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) – a 22,000 strong peacekeeping force that has been in Somalia for 15 years helping the government fight al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants.