Saturday, April 22, 2006

Jordan is replacing all passports with electronic documents to sift out security risks / DEBKAfile, 22 Apr 2006

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=2312
"All passport-holders have been called by Jordanian interior ministry in Amman to report at local population registry branches for new electronic documents. DEBKAfile adds: The regulation is being used to cleanse the kingdom of potential threats to the throne. Some 300,000 expatriate Iraqis live in Jordan. They cover a wide spectrum - from asylum-seekers from the Saddam Hussein regime, former prominent Baathists, including the deposed dictator's daughters, and insurgent leaders of different stripes. Many West Bank Palestinians bear Jordanian passports as well.
The old passports will be valid only until the end of May. After that, holders of the old papers will not be eligible to enter or leave the kingdom. The official announcement does not promise all passports will be replaced." [Snippet]