Lisbon – Portugal said on Tuesday it would not retaliate in kind after South Africa expelled its ambassador over the leaking of a misdirected letter from President Nelson Mandela.

"We have no intention of asking for the expulsion of the South African ambassador to Lisbon," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ana Zacarias told Reuters.

"The relations between Portugal and South Africa continue to be good," she said.

Portugal said on Monday it deplored the expulsion of its envoy to South Africa over the leaking of the Mandela letter, intended for Indonesian President Suharto.

Zacarias said that Portuguese ambassador Vasco Valente had thought that the letter was a copy for his consideration.

The Portuguese government called in South African ambassador Kingsley Makubela on Monday and asked him to explain the expulsion.

Zacarias said Makubela was expected to visit the foreign ministry in Lisbon later on Tuesday to deliver a "just explanation."

South African government sources said the incident had not permanently damaged relations with Indonesia or Portugal, but Valente's was the first diplomatic expulsion by Pretoria since Mandela came to power in historic multi-racial elections in 1994.

The Portuguese foreign ministry said on Monday that South Africa's decision was "incomprehensible," considering that the Portuguese president and government had responded positively to a Mandela initiative on East Timor.

In Pretoria at the end of last month, Mandela briefed Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio on his initiative to settle the dispute over the Pacific territory.