US expediting process to accept Iraqis
Omar Obeidat; 26/6/08
The US is speeding up the process of admitting 12,000 Iraqi “refugees” by the end of September to meet a deadline set by the incumbent administration. According to a spokesperson at the US embassy in Amman, Ambassador James Foley, the State Department’s coordinator for Iraqi refugees, started last week a tour of the Kingdom and other regional countries for talks over the situation of more than two million Iraqis hosted by these states. The tour has taken him to Turkey and Syria, where he met officials Wednesday, and will conclude in Lebanon. The spokesperson told The Jordan Times yesterday that Foley held talks with Jordanian officials last week to discuss the conditions and needs of Iraqis in the Kingdom. According to the US State Department website, President George W. Bush early this month signed a law to accept 5,000 Iraqis each year for the next five years. They belong to a special category of Iraqis who had worked for the US in a variety of roles, including interpreters and translators for the American troops and embassy in Baghdad.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=8892