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Belarus Expels US Diplomats

Souring relations take a turn for the worse after Washington's criticism, economic sanctions

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 30, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

(Newser) – Belarus ordered most of the staff of the US embassy to leave the country today, a sign of souring relations between the states, the AP reports. The top US diplomat in the former Soviet republic says all but six staffers have been ordered out within 72 hours.

The US has been criticizing Belarus over its authoritarian president and has been demanding the country release its political prisoners; Washington has also imposed sanctions on a state-owned oil and chemical company.

Belarus young people wearing masks with nuclear symbols hold a poster reading We don't want to have dead children during a protest rally in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, April 26, 2008.
Belarus young people wearing masks with nuclear symbols hold a poster reading "We don't want to have dead children" during a protest rally in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, April 26, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko speaks at a news conference in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 14, 2007.
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko speaks at a news conference in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 14, 2007.   (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Charge d'affaires Jonathan Moore, the top U.S. diplomat in Belarus, speaks at a news conference in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
Charge d'affaires Jonathan Moore, the top U.S. diplomat in Belarus, speaks at a news conference in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, April 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
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