An Iraqi former diplomat was expelled from Romania yesterday amid claims that he was a spy who had plotted terrorist attacks against western and Israeli interests. Chaker Mahmoud, 48, was ordered in 2003 to target the US and Israeli embassies in Bucharest in the months preceding the war in Iraq, the Romanian Intelligence Service said in a statement. Romanian authorities later found grenade launchers in the country's Iraqi embassy. Officials claim Mahmoud was a spy for Saddam Hussein's regime, operating under diplomatic cover. At the time of the discovery, Romanian authorities declared ten Iraqi diplomats and 31 others as personas non grata, expelling them or barring them from entering the country. It was unclear if Mahmoud was among those expelled. He entered Romania on 3 May under a false identity, the statement said, and was arrested on Wednesday in the eastern city of Bacau. Mahmoud was deported to Cairo, Egypt and has now been banned from entering Romania for 15 years.