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13:58, May 03, 2008 |
A group of staff members of the United States embassy in Minsk will leave Belarus as advised by the Belarussian Foreign Ministry, according to reports reaching Moscow on Friday.
A total of 11 diplomats and marines protecting the embassy will leave the country on Saturday, Itar-Tass cited an embassy sources.
There will be only four diplomats left at the U.S. embassy in Minsk after their departure.
Belarus sent formal request to the U.S. embassy in Minsk on Wednesday and asked 10 U.S. diplomats to leave the country in 72 hours.
The United States said Thursday that it is considering a full range of options in response to the Belarus move to expel its diplomats but insisted that it has not made any formal decisions.
U.S.-Belarussian relations have been tense since Washington imposed new sanctions against Belarus' state-own oil firm Belneftekhim last November.
On Belarus' advice, the U.S. embassy in Minsk has cut staff in March after Belarus recalled its ambassador and shrank its diplomatic mission in Washington.
Source:Xinhua
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