Washington retaliates by expelling the Nicaraguan Ambassador, Carlos Tunnerman, and eight other diplomats.

Alejandro's brother Francisco was Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States in the early 1980s.

The department said it expected the Nicaraguan Ambassador here, Carlos Tunnermann, to comply with an order expelling him from the United States.

The C.I.A. learned of the meeting by intercepting a message between the Nicaraguan Ambassador and its Foreign Minister.

The United States in turn expelled the Nicaraguan Ambassador in Washington.

He was then named Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States, a post he quit after breaking with the Sandinistas.

But he wondered aloud why the Nicaraguan Ambassador had the weapons.

Mr. Calero then offered his hand to Carlos Tunnermann, the Nicaraguan Ambassador.

The Nicaraguan Ambassador, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, still seemed stunned by the magnitude of the catastrophe.

The Nicaraguan Ambassador has called that proposal "incredible."