World Tribune.com


U.S. imposes immigration restrictions on Arab males

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, November 13, 2001

WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has tightened visa restrictions on applicants from a range of Arab and Islamic countries.

U.S. officials said the government has drafted a profile that matches that of Islamic suicide attackers who destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon on Sept. 11. The officials said scores of people from Arab and Islamic countries have already been placed on a black list and are ineligible to enter the United States.

The restrictions apply to nationals from 26 Arab and Islamic countries, Middle East Newsline reported. The restrictions focus on males ages 16 to 45.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the number of people declared ineligible for a visa because of security concerns has tripled over the last month. Boucher said this has delayed visa processing for applicants from numerous countries.

"We will look at people of a certain age, of a certain background, and do careful checks against different databases with them," Boucher said. "We do look at people who have a certain background, certain age, certain origins."

U.S. authorities have become more selective in granting visas in wake of threats of a nonconventional weapons attack by Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden. On Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Bin Laden could have biological, chemical and radiation weapons.

"I think it's unlikely he has a nuclear weapon," Rumsfeld said in a television interview. "It is certainly reasonable to assume he might very well have chemical or biological and possibly even radiation weapons."

The new restrictions could slow down visa applications for Saudis, who have been eligible for accelerated procedures. About 5,500 Saudi students Ñ 3,500 of them on government scholarships Ñ were said to have been studying at U.S. universities before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. So far, 300 Saudi students have cut short their university studies in the United States and returned home.

Officials said the new visa restrictions are being coordinated with other U.S. agencies, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as the Justice Department.

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