4 Americans Ousted by Ghana; U.S. Retaliates

The Ghanaian government ordered the expulsions Friday of four U.S. Embassy officials--including two alleged CIA officers--three days after the countries staged a spy swap. The United States retaliated by expelling four Ghanaian officials.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Obed Asamoah said the four U.S. Embassy officials were being expelled for engaging in activities “wholly unacceptable and not conducive to good relations between Ghana and the United States.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman described the expulsion of the four Americans as “unwarranted.”

CIA Ties Alleged

Ghanaian officials claimed that two of the Americans--identified as Bruce Dean and Annette Woodhams--are CIA officers who recently arrived in the West African country.

The two other U.S. officials were identified as Laurence Garufi, local director of the U.S. Information Agency, and Robert Lee Kile, the mission’s administrative officer.

“The four embassy personnel were given 48 hours to leave the country,” said Alan Roy, political and economic officer at the U.S. Embassy. “Their departure depends on the availability of flights out of the country.”

Aid May be Affected

The State Department gave four Ghanaian officials 48 hours to leave the United States and warned Ghana that similar action in the future could affect other aspects of the relationship between the two countries. Ghana currently receives $15 million in U.S. aid annually.

There are 15 Ghanaian diplomats accredited to the United States. The names of those to be expelled were not released by the State Department.

Foreign Secretary Asamoah said he told Robert Fritz, the U.S. ambassador to Ghana, that the expulsions were ordered because Ghana is determined to avoid a recurrence of the events that led to the arrest and detention of what he termed an “innocent” Ghanaian citizen in the United States.

Asamoah was referring to the case of Michael Soussoudis, 39, a cousin of Ghanaian head of state Flight Lt. Jerry J. Rawlings, who was arrested on espionage charges during a July visit to the United States. Soussoudis was sentenced Monday by a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 20 years in jail. His sentence, however, was reduced to time served and he was turned over to Ghanaian Ambassador Eric Otoo on condition he promptly leave the country.

Eight Men Freed

In return, the Accra government released from jail eight men described by Justice Department officials in Washington as “friendly to the interests of the United States.” Two were convicted spies in Ghana.

The Justice Department said the United States offered political asylum to the eight Ghanaians, who were expelled to the African nation of Togo six days ago.

The eight were fingered as U.S. spies by Soussoudis, who learned their names from his girlfriend, Sharon M. Scranage, 30, a CIA employee who worked in the U.S. Embassy in Accra from May, 1983, to May, 1984. Scranage was sentenced to a five-year jail term.