Britain Ousts 3 S. Africans Over Irish Arms Sales Plot

Britain expelled three South African diplomats today because of their country’s reputed role in a plot to sell arms to Northern Ireland extremists in exchange for British-made missile parts.

The Foreign Office said Undersecretary Patrick Wright summoned South African Ambassador Rae Killen and told him the three must leave the country within a week.

“We noted their expression of regret,” a statement quoted Wright as telling Killen. “However, the South African government should be under no illusions about the grave concern with which Her Majesty’s government viewed the involvement by South African officials in this affair.”

The move came two weeks after authorities in Paris arrested a South African diplomat, an American arms dealer and three members of an extreme Protestant organization in Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish allegedly were handing over parts of a Blowpipe, a sophisticated shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft missile manufactured in Belfast.

The British government expressed grave concern over allegations that the South Africans were supplying weapons to the Protestants in exchange for the missile parts.

The South African, identified by French sources as Daniel Storm, was released after he claimed diplomatic immunity.