Britain and Iraq Expel Diplomats
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LONDON — Iraq ordered a British diplomat Monday to leave Baghdad within 10 days for using “inappropriate language” to demonstrators outside the British mission, prompting London to retaliate by expelling an Iraqi diplomat, officials said.
Diplomatic sources said Iraq accused James Tansley, the second secretary at London’s mission in Baghdad, of making derogatory remarks about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein while addressing a crowd.
The Foreign Office said that, on Friday, Tansley was given 10 days to leave Iraq. In response, Britain has given a second secretary at the Iraqi Embassy 10 days to leave Britain, it added.
Britain, one of Hussein’s strongest critics, has sent thousands of troops to join the U.S.-led multinational force confronting Iraq in the Persian Gulf area.
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