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Pak foreign minister campaigns against US immigration laws
Washington, Jan 31: Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri has continued his campaign against US immigration policies requiring citizens from certain countries living in the United States to register with US authorities.
Washington, Jan 31: Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri has continued his campaign against US immigration policies requiring citizens from certain countries living in the United States to register with US authorities.
Kasuri yesterday met in Washington with President George W Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and Tom Ridge, head of the Homeland Security Department, to express his concerns
about the requirement enacted last year in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In remarks to reporters afterward, he said he appreciated how receptive the two officials and bush, who briefly joined the meeting, were to his concerns. The immigration policy requires foreign males ages 16 to 45 living in the United States to register with officials as part of a US Government programme to determine who is in the country. They must submit fingerprints, be photographed and interviewed under oath in addition to obtaining visas and other documents to enter and stay in the country. The registration applies to males from 24 predominantly Moslem countries.
Kasuri, who voiced his opposition to the policy during a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, has said his government worries about ''mass deportations'' of Pakistanis and demanded Pakistan be removed from the listed countries. Powell said he assured Kasuri the policy will be carried out in a ''dignified manner''.
The security requirement brought additional criticism from Kasuri after a Pakistani journalist was arrested in Washington for allegedly failing to comply with a separate part of the new immigrations rules. Ejaz Haider, editor of the popular English-language Pakistani weekly Friday Times and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, was arrested this week, a day after attending a conference he organized to campaign against the new policies, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Authorities alleged he failed to show up for a required interview within 40 days of his arrival.
Haider maintained officials told him he did not have to show up for the interview. A justice department spokesman told the post that officials were investigating whether a violation occurred or whether its agents made a mistake.
After being taken into custody, Haider was left in a room for hours, fingerprinted and photographed before friends at the Brookings think tank were able to secure his release Tuesday night.
Kasuri told The Washington Post that he raised the incident with the head of the justice department, Attorney General John Ashcroft.
During a press conference with Powell on Wednesday, Kasuri said the policies could place ''undue pressure'' on the relationship between the United States and Pakistan, which has been a crucial US ally in the war on terrorism.
Bureau Report
In remarks to reporters afterward, he said he appreciated how receptive the two officials and bush, who briefly joined the meeting, were to his concerns. The immigration policy requires foreign males ages 16 to 45 living in the United States to register with officials as part of a US Government programme to determine who is in the country. They must submit fingerprints, be photographed and interviewed under oath in addition to obtaining visas and other documents to enter and stay in the country. The registration applies to males from 24 predominantly Moslem countries.
Kasuri, who voiced his opposition to the policy during a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, has said his government worries about ''mass deportations'' of Pakistanis and demanded Pakistan be removed from the listed countries. Powell said he assured Kasuri the policy will be carried out in a ''dignified manner''.
The security requirement brought additional criticism from Kasuri after a Pakistani journalist was arrested in Washington for allegedly failing to comply with a separate part of the new immigrations rules. Ejaz Haider, editor of the popular English-language Pakistani weekly Friday Times and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, was arrested this week, a day after attending a conference he organized to campaign against the new policies, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Authorities alleged he failed to show up for a required interview within 40 days of his arrival.
Haider maintained officials told him he did not have to show up for the interview. A justice department spokesman told the post that officials were investigating whether a violation occurred or whether its agents made a mistake.
After being taken into custody, Haider was left in a room for hours, fingerprinted and photographed before friends at the Brookings think tank were able to secure his release Tuesday night.
Kasuri told The Washington Post that he raised the incident with the head of the justice department, Attorney General John Ashcroft.
During a press conference with Powell on Wednesday, Kasuri said the policies could place ''undue pressure'' on the relationship between the United States and Pakistan, which has been a crucial US ally in the war on terrorism.
Bureau Report