The State Department said that the South African ambassador to the United States, who was declared “persona non grata“ last week, must leave the country by Friday, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
After Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasul was no longer welcome in the United States and posted the decision on social media last Friday, South African embassy officials were summoned to the State Department and given an official diplomatic note explaining the decision, the department said.
“We have informed the embassy that Ambassador Rasul has been deemed unacceptable by the United States as a representative of his country,“ said the State Department department.
The department said Rasoul's diplomatic privileges and immunities expired last night and that he must leave the United States by Friday. It is unclear whether he is currently in the United States, the AP notes.
Rubio announced his decision in an article on “Ex“ while returning to the United States from a meeting of G-7 foreign ministers in Canada. He accused Rasoul of being “a politician who plays on the issue of race“ and of hating President Donald Trump.
Rubio's article referenced a story on the conservative news website “Breitbart“ about a lecture Rasoul had given in Johannesburg as part of a webinar at a South African think tank. In the lecture, Rasoul mentioned the actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of the fact that white people will soon no longer be the majority in the United States.
It is very unusual for the United States to expel a foreign ambassador, although lower-ranking diplomats are often declared "persona non grata", the AP commented.