November 23, 2002	Saturday	Ramazan 17, 1423

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LOS ANGELES, Nov 22: The United States Department of Justice on Friday morning put 13 more additional countries, mostly Arabs, in “Special Registration” category.

The countries which have been included in the list are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Earlier, on Nov 9, the United States had put five countries — Sudan, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Libya — in this category.

The additional Special Registration is basically an extension of the already existing Special Registration at a time of visiting the United States, in which Pakistan is also included. However, this registration has sought legal residents of certain countries to appear before the attorney general’s office between Nov 15 and Dec 16.

The registration requires that all legal male residents of age 16 and above from these countries, who are admitted to the US on or before Sept 10, 2002, should “personally” appear before the attorney general’s office for special registration, which will include photographing, finger-printing and answering of certain questions.

“This notice is applicable to any alien who is a national or citizen of a designated country, notwithstanding any dual nationality or citizenship,” the notice said.

Not only this, the new law also states the citizens of these countries are required to appear every year before the attorney general’s office to provide new details about themselves such as job, education, change of residence and so on.