Gambia expels Iran diplomats

Banjul, 23 Nov-(ANA)-The Gambia has said it is cutting all ties with Iran and ordered all Iranian government representatives to leave within 48 hours.

Officials from the  West African nation gave no reason for the move.

But last month Nigeria said it had intercepted an illegal arms shipment in Lagos from Iran, destined for The Gambia.

Senior Iranian official Alaeddin Borujerdi has said the move was taken under US pressure.

The Nigerian authorities said they had discovered the weapons, including rocket launchers and grenades, in containers labelled as building materials.

The France-based shipping company CMA CGM which transported the shipment said attempts were made to send it to The Gambia before the Nigerian police seized it.

Mr Borujerdi, chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran's parliament, confirmed that a private Iranian company had sent the arms to The Gambia but said this was "in line with international laws", reports the official Islamic Republic News Agency (Irna).

"All government of The Gambia projects and programmes, which were [being] implemented in co-operation with the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have been cancelled," the Gambian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Correspondents say ties between Tehran and Banjul became closer after Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh came to power in 1994.

When The Gambia hosted the African Union summit in 2006, the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a guest of honour.

The Gambia has been among those developing nations who have defended Iran's right to nuclear power. (ANA)

FA/ANA/23 November 2010--------