VP wants visa issuance tightened

KUNINGAN, West Java: Vice President Hamzah Haz has asked all relevant authorities to tighten the immigration system in order to prevent foreign tourists from making trouble in the country.

He said Indonesian embassies overseas were also instructed to selectively issue visas for foreigners wishing to visit the country, so unexpected incidents involving them could be avoided.

Hamzah, speaking to journalists in the West Java town of Kuningan, was apparently referring to the latest cases in which an American and a Scottish women were arrested in Aceh province for allegedly misusing their visas and a German citizen of Arab descent was nabbed in South Jakarta for his alleged link to al- Qaeda.

"We should not allow such tourists to enter Indonesia. To prevent similar cases, we should tighten our immigration system," Hamzah said. --JP