U.S. charge d'affaires in Belarus Jonathan Moore said Wednesday that 10 U.S. diplomats will leave the former Soviet republic within 72 hours under the requests of Belarus' authorities, news agencies reported.

"We will do everything possible so that the U.S. diplomats leave the country within the required time limit," Moore was quoted as telling a news conference after being summoned to the Belorussian foreign ministry.

The Belarussian Foreign Ministry asked the U.S. embassy to cut its staff to five plus the ambassador, the reports said.

Moore was also given a list of U.S. diplomats who have been declared personae non grata and will have to leave the country.

Belarus' decision to expel 10 U.S. diplomats was "unjustified and unwarranted," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"We are considering our response to this action," McCormack said.

U.S.-Belarussian relations have been tense since Washington imposed new sanctions against Belarus' oil firm Belneftekhim last November.

On Belarus' advice, the U.S. embassy in Minsk has cut staff in March after Belarus recalled its ambassador and shrank its diplomatic mission in Washington.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2008)