World Scene

BELARUS

U.S. ambassador told to leave

MINSK — The Belorussian Foreign Ministry yesterday told the U.S. ambassador to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador from the U.S. over economic sanctions Washington imposed last year on the former Soviet nation.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters that U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart has not been formally expelled, adding she will remain in Minsk while the U.S. reviews the situation.

The Foreign Ministry said its demand was prompted by U.S. sanctions imposed last fall against Belarus’ state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim.

Washington also has slapped travel restrictions on Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his inner circle, as well as financial sanctions against Belorussian authorities over their crackdown on opposition groups and media coverage.

BRITAIN

Thatcher taken to hospital

LONDON — Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was hospitalized in stable condition in Central London today and was undergoing medical checks, authorities said.

St. Thomas’ Hospital said Mrs. Thatcher, 82, was expected to spend the night there for observation.

“Her condition is stable and she is speaking to the medical staff who are caring for her,” the hospital said in a statement.

Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Mrs. Thatcher was prime minister from May 1979 until her resignation in November 1990. Mrs. Thatcher dominated British politics in the 1980s and was a firm supporter of her ideological colleague President Reagan.

In March 2002, she cut back her workload after doctors said she had suffered a series of strokes.

TURKEY

Talabani: Iraq won’t tolerate rebels

ANKARA — Iraq’s president insisted yesterday that Kurdish rebels would not be tolerated inside its borders as he sought to allay tensions following neighboring Turkey’s eight-day military mission inside Iraq.

Speaking during a visit to Turkey, Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said Iraq was continuing to put pressure on Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms and said the two countries would discuss wide-ranging security measures to combat their threat.

GEORGIA

Abkhazia appeals for independence

SUKHUM — The Russian-backed region of Abkhazia appealed to the world community yesterday to recognize it as independent from Georgia, citing Kosovo as a precedent.

In a unanimous resolution, Abkhazia’s legislature called on the world community and the Russian parliament to recognize it as an independent nation. The appeal follows an identical resolution earlier this week by another breakaway region, South Ossetia.

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have had de facto independence since wars with Georgian forces in the 1990s. Russia supports their autonomy from Georgia, and on Thursday fully restored economic ties with Abkhazia.

BRITAIN

Troops told to avoid uniform in town

LONDON — Commanders of a British air base have advised personnel not to wear their uniforms in a nearby town because of verbal abuse from opponents of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that personnel at the Wittering air base, 90 miles north of London, were advised in April to wear civilian clothes when they are in the city of Peterborough. Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday said he was dismayed by the situation and urged police backup so the troops can wear uniforms in public.

From wire dispatches and staff reports