UK and Malawi expel each other's diplomats

Britain ordered Malawi's acting ambassador to leave the country on Wednesday soon after the African state expelled Britain's envoy over his criticism of its leader. Malawi, a former British colony, expelled British envoy Fergus Cochrane-Dyet after he called its leadership autocratic in a leaked diplomatic cable, a Malawian government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Hours later, Britain responded by expelling Malawi's acting ambassador to Britain, Flossie Gomile Chidyaonga. Foreign Secretary William Hague in a statement hinted at further consequences saying he had asked UK officials "to review rapidly the full range of our wider relationship with Malawi." Britain is a major aid to donor to Malawi, giving about 93 million pounds ($154 million) a year, according to the British government. Malawi's Weekend Nation newspaper published excerpts of what it said was a March 2011 British diplomatic cable which said President Bingu wa Mutharika was "becoming ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism".