Iraq, U.S. in Tit-for-Tat Ousters
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WASHINGTON — The State Department today denounced as unjustified Iraq’s expulsion of an American diplomat and retaliated by throwing out an Iraqi diplomat stationed here.
Referring to the American diplomat, identified in Baghdad as Haywood Rankin, head of the U.S. Embassy’s political section, State Department spokesman Charles E. Redman said, “None of his activities have been incompatible in any way with his diplomatic status.” In Baghdad, diplomats said Rankin was asked to leave Iraq after making an unauthorized trip to the north, home of Iraq’s estimated 3.5 million Kurds. Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy declined to identify the expelled Iraqi or his job.
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