Spain has ordered the expulsion of six Iraqi diplomats after the discovery of a cache of weapons and ammunition at the embassy.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said six diplomats and one other member of embassy staff had received their expulsion orders on Sunday and had 72 hours to leave the country.
"Six diplomats have been declared 'persona non grata'," the ministry spokesman said. No official reason was given for the expulsions.
The charge d'affaires, Iraq's most senior diplomat in Spain, was allowed to stay in the country, along with the consular chief. Diplomatic sources said the decision was taken after the charge d'affaires telephoned the Foreign Ministry on Friday to confess to the weapons hoard.
Police confiscated the weapons, the sources said. Local newspaper ABC said the cache included six pistols, eight revolvers, five shotguns, a rifle and a carbine, along with some 800 cartridges.
The United States, which launched a war in Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein, asked 60 countries, including Spain, to expel Iraqi diplomats engaged in what it called espionage.
Spain did not comply at the time. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has been a staunch supporter of the US-led war effort, despite opposition to the war from the overwhelming majority of Spaniards.