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US Expels Iraqi UN Diplomat For Alleged Spying
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The
UN headquarters in New York
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WASHINGTON
, June 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States has
ordered the expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat to the United Nations over
espionage allegations, the State Department said Friday, news agencies
reported.
U.S.
officials have "informed the Iraqi mission to the United Nations
that one of its diplomats was being expelled for engaging in
activities that are incompatible with his status as a diplomat,"
deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP). The phrase is diplomatic jargon for espionage.
Reeker
declined to identify the diplomat, detail the charges against him or
say when he would be required to leave the
United States
.
A
second State Department official said the diplomat had been caught by
U.S.
authorities trying to recruit American citizens to work for him, but
it was not clear exactly for what purpose.
The
official said
Iraq
had 24 hours to respond to the order and that there would likely be
some consultation with the United Nations over the expulsion, as
provided for in the agreement the
United States
has with the United Nations on hosting the world body.
The
official said in normal cases an expelled diplomat would have 30 days
to leave the country once the order was delivered, but could not say
if that was the case in this circumstance.
The
U.N. legal counsel, Hans Corell, told AFP that "the United
Nations has been informed" about the expulsion order, but added
that "this is a matter for the two parties."
Corell
said it was legally possible, although very unusual, for the United
States to order the expulsion of a diplomat accredited to the UN,
which has extra-territorial status at its headquarters in New York.
In
a written statement, the State Department insisted it had every right
to expel the diplomat although the expulsion process was slightly
different than if he had been accredited to the United States.
"The
consultation processes are different, but the practical outcome is the
same," it said.
"Diplomats who engage in activities that are incompatible with
their status as diplomats and are harmful to U.S. security are
required to leave the United States," it said.
Iraqi
sources at the UN said the diplomat was Abdul Rahman Saad, a first
secretary and sixth in rank of the 14 Iraqi diplomats accredited to
the United Nations. Saad had been at his post for less than 12 months.
The
Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al-Douri, was not immediately
available for comment.
Reeker
said the expulsion would not affect U.S. policy on Iraq. "This
particular diplomatic action, taken because of the activities of the
particular Iraqi diplomat at the United Nations, does not reflect any
change in our policy toward Iraq," he told reporters.
Procedures
for expelling diplomats are set out in a treaty between the United
Nations and the United States known as the Host Country Agreement,
signed August 4, 1947.
Legal
sources said the same procedures apply to UN officials and other
people accredited to the UN or its agencies, including experts on
missions, journalists and representatives of non-governmental
organizations.
Section
13 (b) of the Host Country Agreement says U.S. law shall not be used
to expel any person with UN privileges "on account of any
activities performed by him in his official capacity."
It
goes on to say that protection does not apply "in case of abuse
of such privileges of residence."
Section
13 (b) also says that expulsion proceedings shall not be initiated
"except with the prior approval of the Secretary of State of the
United States."
It
adds that "such approval shall be given only after
consultation" with a UN member state in the case of a diplomat
representing a government, or with the UN Secretary General in the
case of other persons.
UN
sources said that since Friday's expulsion order was against an Iraqi
diplomat, the consultations would be between the United States and
Iraq and would not involve Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Iraqi
sources here said the last Iraqi diplomat expelled from the United
States was attached to the Algerian Embassy in Washington and ordered
out in 1994. At the time, Algeria had an Iraqi interests section. The
Iraqi Embassy in Washington was closed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in
1990.
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