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FBI 'seeks 3,000 missing Iraqis'
BBC ^ | 01/27/03

Posted on 01/27/2003 5:33:13 AM PST by nypokerface

Federal agents in the US are hunting about 3,000 illegal Iraqi immigrants who have gone missing, The Washington Post has reported.

It is feared some could be connected with extremist groups or be agents of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, unnamed officials told the newspaper.

"We don't really know how big the problem is or how big the threat might be, but the possibility is real," a senior US counter-terrorism official said.

Those missing are among 50,000 Iraqi immigrants the FBI wants to interview as the US threatens military action against Baghdad.

Agents want to glean information from them that could be useful in a war.

Most Iraqi immigrants are believed to be opposed to Saddam Hussein, but security chiefs are worried about those who cannot be traced, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

About 300,000 people of Iraqi origin live in the US, according to the Iraqi-American Council, with large communities in Michigan, California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Visa violations

Officials said Saddam Hussein's regime was known to have recruited Iraqi students in the US to gather intelligence on American technology.

The FBI launched its hunt when figures from the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) revealed the number of Iraqi visitors who had been ordered deported for overstaying visas or other violations, but had then vanished.

"Quite frankly, we don't know what their status is," a law enforcement official told the newspaper.

"They could have gone back home, they could have gone to another country, or they could still be here. There is a strong belief that we need to find out one way or the other."

The official admitted it would be a difficult task to find those missing.

"There's not much of a paper trail in a lot of these cases.

"If all you have is a five-year-old address, and it's a transient neighbourhood where nobody knew him, there is not a whole lot you can do."

Interviews voluntary

The FBI carried out a similar programme to interview Iraqis before the Gulf War in 1991.

This project is more ambitious and better organised, The Washington Post said.

All the interviews are voluntary.

However, some Arab-American rights groups say Iraqis fear they are being singled out by the authorities.

"There's a lot of apprehension and anxiety in the community about these visits," said Mohammed Alomari, spokesman for Focus on American and Arab Interests and Relations (Fair) in Southfield, Michigan.

"Most people are too scared to come out and complain about it. But they will tell you in private that they are very intimidated."

The interview project is separate to the US Justice Department's "special registration" programme, which requires male visitors from 25 mostly Muslim countries, including Iraq, to register with the INS.


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 01/27/2003 5:33:14 AM PST by nypokerface
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To: nypokerface
Can someone please explain to me why the INS is still in existence?
2 posted on 01/27/2003 5:35:39 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: nypokerface
I suspect that soon there will be a lot more missing Iraqis. The difference is that these additional ones will be missing in Iraq.
3 posted on 01/27/2003 5:36:01 AM PST by FreePaul
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To: mewzilla
Can someone please explain to me why the INS is still in existence?

You should want taxcuts instead? That's downright un-Democratic.

4 posted on 01/27/2003 5:43:35 AM PST by LTCJ
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To: nypokerface
FBI 'seeks 3,000 missing Iraqis'

I missed the rapture! AHHHHHH!

5 posted on 01/27/2003 5:46:19 AM PST by chance33_98 (Freedom is not Free)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: mewzilla
Can someone please explain to me why the INS is still in existence?

Sure! ...to provide for national security the same as the Department of Education provides for children. Wait a minute. That may not be it...um...thinking...Today's News

7 posted on 01/27/2003 6:17:44 AM PST by Types_with_Fist
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To: nypokerface
Word is that the INS plans to put the photos of all 3,000+ on the sides of milk cartons. That should solve the problem....
8 posted on 01/27/2003 7:51:49 AM PST by tracer
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