News In Brief

147 Soviet diplomats ousted as spies in '83

Last year was a tough one for Soviet diplomats engaged in spying around the world, according to figures compiled by the State Department. The figures show that that 147 Soviet diplomats around the world were expelled for spying. But that does not include other Soviet diplomats asked to leave for other reasons, such as brushes with the law, nor does it include other Soviet-bloc diplomats.

According to the figures, the 147 Soviets expelled included 47 from France, 18 from Bangladesh, 18 from Iran, and 3 from the United States. The expulsions marked a sharp increase over the two previous years.