Belarus Expels US Diplomats

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

By Sam Gale Rosen

Posted Apr 30, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

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Belarus Expels US Diplomats — 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 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.

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