May 13, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 12: Ministry of foreign affairs has initiated a probe into the over 1,000 missing Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) from the country’s mission in Madrid but experts in the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) claimed the document had fool-proof security features and said it could not be forged, Dawn learnt on good authority on Friday.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warriach said stern action would be taken against people who stole the passports or those responsible for their security.

During his first briefing at Directorate-General of Immigration and Passport after assuming the office, the minister said he had held separate meetings with authorities concerned to bring the case to its logical conclusion.

DGIP’s Director-General Brig (retd) Khalid Habib said the department was not responsible for the stolen passports and the entire responsibility of the scam rested on the ministry of foreign affairs and Pakistan’s mission in Madrid. He said the DGIP sent blank passports to missions abroad in accordance with their demand. “It is the responsibility of the (foreign) missions to manage the issuance of documents to overseas Pakistanis,” he said.

A senior official of the foreign ministry said the country’s mission in Madrid should be held responsible for the stolen MRPs. “We must not engage in a blame game because we know that the fault lies with our mission,” the official said. He said the ministry had recently sent an inquiry officer to Madrid to initiate an inquiry and no individual could be held responsible for the theft until its conclusion.

Meanwhile, sources in the Foreign Office alleged that the first secretary in the Madrid mission, Shafqat Cheema, was involved in the scam.

The sources said that the diplomat had been accused of selling each passport for 2,500 euros.

Nadra chief Brig (retd) Saleem Ahmed Moeen said: “There is nothing to be worry about because if they are forged, the forgery would be detected whenever such a document is presented at air terminals.”