Pakistan Boots NY Times Bureau Chief

Declan Walsh, the Pakistan bureau chief for the New York Times, was booted from the country for "undesirable activities", whatever that means. He was given just 72 hours to leave from the time he was handed his expulsion order a little after midnight.

Walsh had started  working in Pakistan in 2004 for the UK's The Guardian, and switched to the NY Times last year.

“Here I go. Hard to believe this is happening,” the 39-year-old tweeted early Sunday after filing his last report on the country's landmark general elections.

He was dropped at the airport by Pakistani columnist Cyril Almeida and escorted by a convoy of security officials' vehicles. He later tweeted messages of thanks to friends and well-wishers.

The expulsion order stated: “It is informed that your visa is hereby cancelled in view of your undesirable activities,” according to the Times.

[snip]

Walsh has written about the country's political strife, its insurgency and its sometimes tense relations with the United States.

“72 hours, wheels up,” he tweeted. “To all friends, especially in Pakistan, who offered overwhelming support in recent days, thank you so much.”

Jill Abramson, the newspaper's executive editor, sent a letter to Pakistani authorities describing Walsh as a “reporter of integrity who has at all times offered balanced, nuanced and factual reporting on Pakistan”.

She called the accusation of undesirable activities “vague and unsupported.”

Undesirable activities could be pretty much anything in a Muslim land.

U.S. Expels Venezuelan Consul In Miami, Livia Acosta Noguera, Over Iranian Cyber Attack Plot

The U.S. State Department has just given the boot to Venezuela's consul general in Miami. According to William Ostick, Livia Acosta Noguera has until Tuesday to leave the country after being declared 'persona non grata' for allegedly being a very naughty girl:

The State Department had said last month it was looking into “very disturbing” allegations that Ms Acosta was a participant in an alleged Iranian plot to launch cyber-attacks on sensitive US national security facilities.

According to the Spanish-language TV network, Univision, Ms Acosta was taped discussing the alleged plot with Mexican students who later sought asylum in the US. The discussions reportedly took place in 2007 while she was serving at the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico City.

Ostick wouldn't give any details regarding the matter, but the allegations came to light after a documentary aired on Univision in December which highlighted her involvement in a plot to target the FBI, CIA and the White House. Naturally, Hugo Chavez denied those allegations, but it wouldn't be surprising at all if they were true, considering Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are best buds.

I can't wait to hear what Chavez has to say about the expulsion of one of his diplomats.