WASHINGTON, March 20: The United States on Thursday urged governments around the world to sever their relations with Iraq and expel Iraqi envoys.

The State Department, however, announced that they are not asking host governments to close down the Iraqi embassies.

The move, the department said, aims at isolating the government of President Saddam Hussein and “keeping the embassies suspended until a new Iraqi government takes over Baghdad.”

The department did not say where it wanted the Iraqi ambassadors to go once they are expelled from the host countries since they cannot go back to Iraq because of the war.

The State Department also said that it would expect the host governments to “protect the property and other valuables” of these embassies for the envoys of the future Iraqi government.