27 October 2004	Wednesday	12 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: Machine-readable passports (MRPs) will replace all existing passports by June 2006, says President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

He said this after receiving a comprehensive briefing on the MRPs at the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) headquarters here on Tuesday.

The President said that the newly-introduced passports would enhance the credibility of the country's travel documents.

The new passport, he said, would be helpful in preventing the entry of terrorists into the country.

"Machine-readable passports will contain only verified data with a number of security features that will discourage fake documentation," the president said.

President Musharraf was informed that all 28 passport offices across the country would start processing MRPs by June 2006.

Currently, immigration and passport offices in four provincial capitals and in Islamabad are processing the new passports.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Nadra chairman Saleem Moin briefed the president and said that MRPs were of international standard and had state-of-the-art technical features.

As an on the spot demonstration, data was processed for the issuance of a machine-readable passport for the president.

These documents, they said, would ensure genuineness of the passport holders as Pakistani citizens, adding that it would also be helpful in the country's fight against terror as they would bar terror suspects from entering the country.

The new document has a secure integrated system encompassing immigration, automatic border control and passport issuance. According to Nadra chairman, the MRPs were among the most advanced passports being issued anywhere in the world.

The authenticity of the citizen would be ensured through an online verification of the applicants' NICs from the national data warehouse.