Iraq bans non-Iraqi Arabs from entering the country for security reasons.

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Forum Spin Doctor
By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) Iraq's Interior Ministry has banned all
non-Iraqi Arabs from entering the country until further notice as part of
security measures for the Dec. 15 general elections, officials said Friday.
The decision was taken Tuesday by Interior Minister Bayn Jabr, said
two senior Interior Ministry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
On Friday, Royal Jordanian prevented an Associated Press
correspondent of Egyptian nationality from boarding a plane leaving to
Baghdad. Royal Jordanian officials said they had orders from Iraqi
authorities not to allow Arabs on the plane.
"This step is part of the security measures taken for the
elections," said one of the senior Interior Ministry officials. "It covers
all border points whether airports, land border crossings and ports."
He said the ban was open-ended.
Another senior official said the ban will continue until Dec. 17,
two days after the elections.
Both officials said there would be no exceptions.
Iraq took strict security measures for the landmark Jan. 30 general
elections and the Oct. 15 referendum on the new constitution. Those measures
included a three-day closure of all border points. But this is the first
time Arabs have been banned altogether for such a lengthy period.
An immigration officer at Baghdad International Airport said
authorities began implementing the ban on Wednesday and that a number of
Arabs who managed to reach the capital were sent back on the next plane. He
did not say how many were involved.
Ethnic Arabs who hold passports from the United States and other
non-Arabic countries are not affected by the ban, the official said.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have long complained about foreign Arabs
sneaking into the country to join the battle against the United States and
its allies.
However, most of them are believed to enter illegally over Iraq's
thinly guarded desert borders rather than use airlines or legal frontier
crossing points.
 
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