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WASHINGTON: The United States has expelled a group of visiting Chinese journalists, some of whom reportedly applauded at this week's terrorist strikes in New York and Washington, a State Department official said.
``On September 14, we curtailed the visit of a group from China under the International Visitor Programme,'' the official said.
``Under the current circumstances, it was decided not to continue the tour.''
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the group's expulsion, but others confirmed there had been reports that some of the journalists had applauded and cheered when they saw television footage of hijacked planes slamming into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
It was not immediately clear where the alleged incident occurred, but the group, which was being hosted by the New York-based Institute of International Education, had been scheduled to visit New York this week, the official said.
The 14 journalists from China, were on a 28-day study tour funded by the State Department's International Visitor Programme, which brings foreign professionals to the US to meet their American colleagues.
The official said the status of all other similar tours now under way was being reviewed ``on a case-by-case basis''.
The 40-year-old programme has brought more than 186 current and former heads of state and more than 1,500 senior foreign government officials to the US since it was founded. -AFP |
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