U.S. agents target RI in rigid visa checks<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Denpasar<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government says it is unaware of the United States
\nadministration's plan to deploy agents to oversee visa operations
\nat U.S. embassies and consulates in five more Muslim nations,
\nincluding Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday
\nthat U.S. Embassy officials had not informed the Indonesian
\ngovernment about the plan, but asserted that \"in common practice,
\nthe embassy has to give prior notification to the Indonesian
\ngovernment about any plan to reshuffle its staff\".<\/p>\n
\"We do not know about the U.S. plan to place DHS agents in the
\ncountry and its embassy here has never officially notified us,\"
\nMarty told The Jakarta Post. on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit
\nin Nusa Dua, Bali.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on
\nTuesday a plan to deploy agents in U.S. embassies and consulates
\nin Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan and the United Arab
\nEmirates after placing its personnel in Saudi Arabia in August as
\npart of a sweeping overhaul of immigration procedures.<\/p>\n
The five countries were chosen because of the high volume of
\nvisa requests the DHS processes and the presence of members of
\nal-Qaeda and other groups hostile to the United States on their
\nterritory or in neighboring states, DHS spokesman Gordan Johndroe
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The move came just days after the State Department ceded much
\nof its visa-issuing authority to the DHS under tightened
\nimmigration laws enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
\nattacks on New York and Washington.<\/p>\n
Under the regulation, U.S. diplomats will retain the right to
\nactually place a visa in an applicant's passport but applications
\nwill have to be first vetted by homeland security agents wielding
\nbroad powers over the process.<\/p>\n
The procedure was outlined in an MOU signed on Sept. 29 by
\nSecretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Homeland
\nSecurity Thomas J. Ridge. President George W. Bush then signed
\noff on the plan.<\/p>\n
Under the rules, the DHS agents will review visa requests to
\ndetermine whether the applicant is a potential threat to the U.S.
\nand will decide on denial or rejection on those grounds.<\/p>\n
The countries whose administrations have repeatedly provided
\nsupport for acts of international terrorism are the subjects of
\nthe MOU.<\/p>\n
Stanley Harsha, a press attache at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta
\nsaid Washington \"is still discussing possible implementation in
\nIndonesia\".<\/p>\n
\"It is still being discussed whether the proposal to place
\npeople at other U.S. embassies will be agreed,\" Harsha told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and faces
\naccusations of harboring a terrorist network linked to Osama bin
\nLaden's al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
The country has been rocked by a series of bomb attacks since
\n2000 with the climax taking place when two nightclubs on the
\nresort island of Bali were devastated by bombs on Oct. 12, 2002,
\nleaving 202 people dead, mostly foreigners,<\/p>\n
Indonesia was among the countries affected by the U.S. post-
\nSept. 11 attack immigration policy, which require all males of 16
\nyears or over living in the U.S. to report regularly to local
\nimmigration authorities.<\/p>",
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