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Submitted by ctv_en_8 on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 10:45
The United States has warned Belarus it is considering forcing Minsk to withdraw all its diplomats from the United States in retaliation for the expulsion of 10 US envoys from Minsk, a US official said on May 1.

"We made it quite clear both here and in Minsk that one of the options being considered was simply to pull our remaining staff out and then require them to do the same," said the US official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

 

The US warning was issued a day after Belarus announced it was expelling the 10 US diplomats in a deepening dispute over human rights and sanctions.

 

The United States has protested the expulsions are unjustified but has refused to retract economic sanctions on Belarus that Washington imposed last year to back up demands for Minsk to release a number of detainees.

 

State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters that the Bush administration was still considering how to respond to Belarus but he did not expect any announcements on May 1.

 

"We have told them that we are considering the full range of options in terms of our respective diplomatic representation," Casey told reporters. "At this point we have not made a decision to ask them formally, or informally, to further reduce the number of staff,” Casey said.                  

 

 
VOV/Reuters

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