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Ecuador Expelling World Bank Representative

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Ecuador's Foreign Ministry says President Rafael Correa has asked the World Bank's representative to leave the country.

In a statement Thursday, the ministry said Mr. Correa had declared the representative, Eduardo Somensatto, "persona non grata" and had sent a letter on Wednesday to inform the World Bank headquarters in Washington.

Mr. Correa said recently he planned to expel the representative because of the bank's denial of a $100 million loan to Ecuador in 2005, when Mr. Correa was economy minister under former President Alfredo Palacio. Mr. Correa has called the bank's action an affront to a sovereign nation.

Earlier this month, President Correa announced he would end relations with the International Monetary Fund after paying off the country's final debts to the lending agency. He has frequently said conditions of IMF loans are harmful to Ecuador.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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