MINSK (AFP) — Eleven US diplomats left Belarus Saturday after being expelled by the Minsk authorities, crossing the border into Lithuania just an hour before their deadline to leave expired, an embassy spokesman said.
The diplomatic spat is the latest in a series of incidents between the US and a state Washington describes as the "last dictatorship in Europe."
On Wednesday, Belarus gave the US embassy 72 hours to expel 10 of its staff who were no longer welcome in the former communist state, it said.
The US had originally refused to reduce its diplomatic core in Minsk. It finally decided to send back 11 of its diplomats -- including six marines who were in charge of guarding the embassy -- citing administrative reasons, according to the US embassy spokesman.
This leaves only four US representatives in Minsk compared to 32 at the start of the year, before the row broke out.
Belarus earlier reduced the embassy staff from 32 to 17 in protest at US economic sanctions against domestic oil monopoly Belneftekhim over the country's supposed human rights violations.
President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron hand since 1994.
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