OAS Asked to Back Expulsion

The State Department today formally asked the Organization of American States to approve the expulsion of Nicaraguan Ambassador Carlos Tunnermann, who is resisting an order by President Reagan to leave. The department said it expects Tunnermann to comply, and Reagan warned that “he’s going to get a big surprise” if he doesn’t.

State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley was asked about the possibility that Tunnermann may claim he has the right to stay in Washington on the ground that he also is Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States. She said it would be “unprecedented for a foreign envoy to refuse to comply with such an order.”