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Rumor:
Pakistan Removed From List Of 25 Blacklisted Countries!
From Daily Khabrain (Daily News)
January 15, 2003
Many Pakistanis waiting in line for registration, upon hearing
from one another that Pakistan has been cleared from the list of
20 countries whose citizens were required to register by the 15th,
left for home without registering. While this information has not
been confirmed and still has only the status of a rumor, some Pakistani
immigrants took their countrymen's words and left. What awaits them
is still open for uneasy speculation.
Yesterday, a rumor spread among scores of Pakistanis seen lining
up in several cities of America to register under the new INS Special
Registration requirement that Pakistans name is now removed
from the required registration list.
The New York desk of the Daily Khabrain (Daily News) reported that
the registrations of Pakistanis started on the 13th of
January 2003. Pakistanis could be seen congregating in front of
INS offices in Los Angeles, Houston, and New York. According to
the BBC, a rumor suddenly spread through the sky, using a Pakistani
newspaper report as its foundation, that American officials had
spoken to Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
and reassured him that Pakistan would be removed from the list of
nations whose residents are being mandated to register at the INS.
As soon as this information became public, dozens of Pakistanis
left without registering, stating that until the matter is cleared
up they will not register. The BBC also said that very few people
in New York and elsewhere registered as a result of this rumor.
When the Pakistani Embassy was questioned regarding this matter,
they gave no indication or signal substantiating this rumored report.
There was no official or unofficial statement from the Pakistani
Embassy confirming or denying the purported discussion between Mian
Kasuri and American INS officials.
Unconfirmed reports put the number of registered Pakistanis in
New York at between 25 and 30 individuals.
Translated From Urdu By Manav 'Maasoom' Sachdeva
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