Posted on 11/27/2002 3:40:11 PM PST by knighthawk
AMMAN, November 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Consul Les Hickman has been "relieved of his responsibilities" amid an investigation into embezzlement involving a visa scam at the U.S. embassy in Amman, diplomatic sources said Wednesday, November 27.
The probe - the first of its kind in Jordan - is focusing on "large sums of money" paid by individuals for visas to the United States, which has restricted the entry of foreigners following last year's attacks, the sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hickman, consular chief and first secretary at the U.S. embassy in Amman since July 2000, will be sacked if he is found guilty of involvement in any such scam, the sources added.
A U.S. embassy source questioned by AFP "confirmed that an investigation by U.S. and Jordanian investigators is underway into the allegations".
The source also confirmed that "two local employees were terminated" at the embassy, though one was sacked for reasons that had nothing to do with the visa affair.
"The first person was terminated for something totally different while the second employee is in custody and under investigation about these allegations," the U.S. embassy source said. He declined to elaborate.
Hickman is married to a Jordanian.
Prior to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, visa applications were often processed in only a day, Hickman had said in October 2002.
"Now, however, all visas for men between the ages of 15 and 45 undergo a special screening process in Washington", he added.
"The embassy is now receiving less than half the number of visa applications it did before September 11. The recent increase in the price of a visa has also been a deterrent", he said.
Les Hickman was Chief of the Consular Section in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, from 1989-92. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1978, he has served also in Caracas, Venezuela; Manila, the Philippines; Washington, D.C.; Bombay, India; and in the Sinai Desert in Egypt.
AMMAN (Star)-The trial of Raed Hijazi, the Jordanian accused of membership in Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization, was postponed yet again after the US consul-general refused to appear and testify in court.
December 01, 2001, 10:04 AM[more]
JORDAN (Star) - AMMAN (Star)-The trial of Raed Hijazi, the Jordanian accused of membership in Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization, was postponed yet again after the US consul-general refused to appear and testify in court.
The decision was made Monday by the State Security Court after the US Embassy in Amman issued a statement claiming the US Consul Les Hickman was not legally bound to testify according to international conventions.
"The government of the United States will not relinquish its immunity to allow Mr Hickman to testify in the case," the statement said, adding he will not appear in court. Hickman's testimony was requested by the State Security Court earlier this year to testify about his relationship with Hijazi, who is a Jordanian-American citizen. Hickman used to visit Hijazi in prison as part of "normal diplomatic services".
Last term Clinton appointee? (Possibly not a formal appointee, I don't know if this position is one of those, but rather a "pull" type, like Monica's job after her encounters with BJ Bill.)
NAPLES, Florida (CNN) -- The Georgia woman who prompted Friday's terror scare was "flat-out lying" when she told authorities she overheard three Muslim men at a restaurant laughing about September 11 and making suspicious comments, one of the men said late Friday.[snip]Gheith, a Palestinian born in Jordan, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who now lives in Chicago, Illinois. Butt was also born in Jordan and is a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Chicago.
Oh gee, who woulda thunk there were serious problems in the State Department?
Next mole.
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