Britain recalls ambassador to Congo

Calls expulsion of 6 officials 'unacceptable'

In this story: 'These people were not spies' Americans detained in Harare RELATED STORIES, SITES

LONDON (CNN) -- Britain said on Friday it was recalling its ambassador from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after the Congo government expelled six Western diplomats and officials on suspicion of spying.

"We are recalling the British ambassador for consultations. We take (the situation in Congo) very seriously indeed and we are considering our response," said a British Foreign Office official.

The British Foreign Office added that it viewed the actions of Congo President Laurent Kabila's government as "unwarranted and unacceptable."

No further response to the expulsions was expected until after the ambassador to Kinshasa, Douglas Scrafton, holds talks at the Foreign Office in London.

The Congo government accused six officials -- including five from Britain and one American -- of spying after they were detained near a military site on Sunday. Five of the six were deported from the Congo on Thursday evening.

They arrived in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare on Friday, and Britain was making arrangements for their return home, said the British Foreign Office official.

'These people were not spies'

One of those who was expelled is a Foreign Office official, while two others work for Britain's Defense Ministry. The fourth is a bodyguard for the British ambassador, while the American is a U.S. State Department employee who was temporarily assigned to the British Foreign Office.

A sixth member of the group, British diplomat Gregor Lusty, left Kinshasa on Wednesday night after the government pronounced him persona non grata.

Congo accused the six of trying to gain access to a military base while carrying cameras and maps of strategic points in Kinshasa. But Britain denies the officials are spies and said the men were working on contingency planning for a possible evacuation of its embassy in the Congo, which is riven by civil war.

"These people were not spies," British Junior Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd said on Thursday. "They were carrying cameras and maps, that certainly is true. These are the sorts of things which are strictly necessary if this group of people are to carry out the reconnaissance for a potential evacuation."

Americans detained in Harare

The expulsion order followed the detainment of three Americans at the Harare airport on Sunday for allegedly trying to smuggle weapons. Congo's Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji accused that group of planning to assassinate Kabila.

Zimbabwe said on Thursday it was investigating a possible link between the three Americans detained in Harare and the Western officials expelled from the Congo.

The Zimbabwe government has declined to name the three Americans, but said they would be brought to court "as soon as possible in these complicated circumstances."

British officials in Harare deny any link between the Americans detained in Harare and the officials expelled from Congo.

The Congo, formerly known as Zaire, has been engulfed by war for eight months as Kabila's forces and those of his allies battle Congolese rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda. The rebels control much of the country's eastern regions.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has more than 6,000 troops in Congo to support Kabila.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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