The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Belarus has expelled the United States ambassador, after a row over travel restrictions imposed on its president by Washington.

The decision was also prompted by US sanctions imposed on the country's state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced at the same time that it was recalling its own ambassador to the US.

A White House spokesman described the expulsion as "deeply disappointing".

The United States - along with the European Union - has restricted the travel of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his inner circle, as well as imposing economic sanctions.

||We strongly regret this unjustified action by the Belarusian government. This is deeply disappointing and only takes them further away from Europe and the rest of the world.