January 23, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1423

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NEW YORK, Jan 22: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, on Tuesday assured Pakistanis that he would ask the Bush administration to take Pakistan off the NSEERS registration list when he meets US officials in Washington next week.

Kasuri told a large gathering of Pakistanis at Pakistan consulate amidst cheers that in his meetings he would seek maximum possible administrative flexibility by the US immigration authorities who decide on individual cases of Pakistanis who are in minor visa violations.

Kasuri made it known that his embassy and his contacts in Washington with connections at the White House are in touch with the Bush administration to seek maximum possible flexibility for Pakistanis.

Many Pakistanis attending the meeting expressed feelings that their government did not flex their muscle as the frontline ally of the United States in seeking waivers for Pakistanis now caught in the registration imbroglio.

But Kasuri, who earlier sought to play down the expectations of Pakistanis vis-a-vis the possibilities of Pakistan persuading the US administration to give Pakistanis a break, seemed to raise them to a new level.

Most Pakistanis attending the meeting told newsmen that Kasuri had raised their hopes that something will be done about their plight on the registration issues following his meetings in Washington next week.

On Monday US Secretary of State Colin Powell had already dashed those hopes saying that the registration process which was now US law would proceed as slated by the laws of the country. He advised Pakistanis who are in the US legally to go and register. He also counselled the Pakistanis who are in violations of US immigration laws to go and resolve their cases with the US immigration department.

Kasuri is to meet the US National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Jan 29.

Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington, Jehangir Ashraf Kazi, told reporters that efforts are underway to arrange a meeting between Kasuri and US Attorney-General John Ashcroft also.

Kasuri would fly to Los Angeles on Thursday where he will meet Pakistanis living on the west coast.