[Reader-list] US to fingerprint Muslims

[Anjali Sagar]

>US to fingerprint Muslims
>By Anwar Iqbal 
>
>
>WASHINGTON, Aug 13: The United States has decided to fingerprint and
photograph tens of thousands of visitors from the Middle Eastern and Muslim
countries entering the country after Sept 11, US officials said on Monday.
>
>Sept 11 has been chosen as the starting date for the new programme because
of its symbolic importance as the day when America faced the worst terrorist
attack in its history.
>
>"After an initial 20-day period for testing and evaluating the system at
selected ports of entry, all remaining ports of entry - including land, air
and sea - will have the new system in place on Oct 1," said Attorney General
John Ashcroft while announcing the first phase of the National Security
Entry-Exit Registration System.
>
>He said: "The visitors will be selected according to intelligence criteria
reflecting patterns of terrorist organizations' activities."
>
>Since all the 19 hijackers responsible for the Sept 11 disaster were Arabs
and the on-going campaign against terrorism is also focused on Muslims, it
is 
obvious that the new programme will mostly affect those from the Islamic
countries. However, the US government has identified five countries - Iran,
Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria by name. All visitors from these countries,
considered sponsors of terrorism by the State Department, will be
photographed and fingerprinted.
>
>The programme will also apply to non-immigrant aliens whom the State
Department determines to present an elevated national security risk, based
on 
criteria reflecting current intelligence. Aliens identified by Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) inspectors at the port of entry, using
similar criteria, will also be scrutinized.
>
>"The vulnerabilities of our immigration system became starkly clear on Sept
11," said Ashcroft.
>
>The new programme, which will be implemented by the INS, will correct some
of the problems that led to the Sept 11 attacks, he said.