IRAQIS CALL FOR REVIEW, RECIPROCITY – US embassy posts ban advisory

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Demonstrators take part in a protest against US President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban on refugees and people from seven mainly-Muslim countries, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Jan 30. (AP)

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 31, (Agencies): Under the Executive Order signed on Jan 27, 2017, referencing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, visa issuance to nationals of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen has been suspended effective immediately until further notifi cation. If you are a national, or dual national, of one of these countries, please do not schedule a visa appointment or pay any visa fees at this time. We will announce any other changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available, says an urgent notice put out by the US Embassy in Kuwait.

The Executive Order does not affect American citizens (whether or not dual nationals), who are required to use their US passports when entering and departing the United States. For additional information, visit the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs website.

The Consular Section of the US Embassy in Kuwait City is responsible for providing visa services to those seeking to enter the United States for a temporary period and for those wishing to take up indefi nite or permanent residence in the United States.

Please visit our Global Support Services (GSS) website for complete information on applying for a nonimmigrant US visa, including a directory of nonimmigrant visa categories, concludes the notice. Baghdad called Monday for the United States to review its “wrong decision” to prevent Iraqis from entering the country as parliament backed reciprocal restrictions if Washington does not change course.

The responses from Baghdad are part of a growing backlash against President Donald Trump’s executive order barring citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen from entering the US for at least 90 days, a decision he billed as an effort to make America safe from “radical Islamic terrorists”.

The travel restrictions, which come on the heels of repeated assertions by Trump that the US should have stolen Iraq’s oil before leaving in 2011, risk alienating the citizens and government of a country fi ghting against militants the president has cast as a major threat to America.

“We reject … the decision to prevent the reception of Iraqis in the United States of America, and call for its review,” Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told US ambassador Douglas Silliman, according to a statement on his website. But “we (also) confi rm our commitment to establishing better relations between Baghdad and Washington,” Jaafari said.

The foreign ministry also issued a statement calling on the US to “review this wrong decision”. “It is very unfortunate that this decision was issued towards an allied state linked by strategic partnership with the United States,” it said.

The ministry noted the US move “coincides with victories achieved by (Iraq’s) brave fighters and with the support of the international coalition against the Daesh terrorist gangs in Mosul,” referring to the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State jihadist group. Parliament, meanwhile, urged the government to take similar measures against Americans if Washington does not reconsider its position.

Lawmakers voted for “a policy of reciprocity with the American decision in the event that the American side does not withdraw its decision,” according to text read out before the vote. It also called for the US Congress to pressure the Trump administration to reconsider its decision, and for the UN, Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to oppose the measure.

And it said that if the US does not roll back the move, this “will push Iraq to take policies and decisions commensurate with the preservation of its interests.” “We are against this stance from the new administration,” lawmaker Sadiq al-Laban told AFP. “We hope that the American admin istration will rethink … this decision,” he added. Trump’s decision led to the detention of incoming refugees at US airports, sparking protests, legal challenges and widespread condemnation from rights groups. The parliamentary vote came a day after its foreign affairs committee made a similar call for Iraq to respond in kind to the US measure.

Hassan Shwairid, the deputy head of the committee, said the committee’s call did not apply to the thousands of American military personnel in the country as part of the US-led coalition against IS. The Pentagon on Thursday pledged to lobby for US entry of Iraqis who have worked for the US military, including fighters and translators. And US senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham said Trump’s ban could impact military cooperation and security in other ways. “This executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona,” where they have received training, they said in a joint statement. “Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism.”

Mocked
Supporters of Islamic State mocked US President Donald Trump’s decision to deny entry to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying it would fail to stop attacks in the United States and help win new militant recruits instead. “Your decision will do nothing. Attacks will come at you from inside America, from Americans born in America with American parents and grandparents,” one Islamic State supporter posted on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app. Islamic State, which has been fighting military assaults on several fronts in its heartlands of northern Syria and Iraq, has made no formal comment on Trump’s ban. But some sympathisers took to social media to pour scorn on immigration restrictions they said would serve Islamic State’s cause. “Trump bans Muslims from entering America and kills them in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, then threatens them … the wretch does not know he presents an invaluable service to Islamic State,” a supporter calling himself Salem al- Mosuly wrote on Twitter. An Islamist channel on the messaging app Telegram called “Scholars of Haq”, monitored by US monitoring service SITE, asked whether Trump’s policies meant he was currently the best “caller to Islam” — someone who attracts new believers.

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