WORLD : Iraq to Expel U.S. Diplomat in Latest Dispute With the West
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq said today that it is expelling an American diplomat in a further sign of worsening relations with the West but tried to counter Israeli and Western fears that it would attack the Jewish state with chemical weapons.
The official Iraqi News Agency INA said Baghdad is expelling the unidentified U.S. diplomat in retaliation for Washington’s expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat based at the United Nations last week.
“The recent U.S. decision cannot be isolated from the series of feverish campaigns to harm Iraq in such a way that serves the aggressive goals of Israel,” INA quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
He denied U.S. charges that the Iraqi diplomat was linked to an alleged plot to kill two opponents of the Iraqi government.
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