[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 8791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4105]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice 4283]


Extension of the Restriction on the Use of United States 
Passports for Travel To, In or Through Iraq

    On February 1, 1991, pursuant to the authority of 22 U.S.C. 211a 
and Executive Order 11295 (31 FR 10603), and in accordance with 22 CFR 
51.73(a)(2) and (a)(3), all United States passports, with certain 
exceptions, were declared invalid for travel to, in, or through Iraq 
unless specifically validated for such travel. The restriction was 
originally imposed on the grounds that (1) armed hostilities then were 
taking place in Iraq and Kuwait and (2) there was an imminent danger to 
the safety of United States travelers to Iraq. American citizens then 
residing in Iraq and American professional reporters and journalists on 
assignment there were exempted from the restriction on the grounds that 
such exemptions were in the national interest. The restriction has been 
extended for additional one-year periods since then, and was last 
extended through February 25, 2003.
    Conditions in Iraq remain hazardous for Americans. In an effort to 
compel Iraq to fulfill its obligations under UN Security Council 
resolutions, the United Nation has initiated an intensive inspections 
program. Mounting tensions between the Iraqi regime and the 
international community create an increasingly hazardous atmosphere for 
Americans in Iraq. If hostilities were to break out, the risk to 
Americans would be grave. The Iraqi regime has in the past demonstrated 
a willingness to use violence and intimidation against foreigners to 
pursue its foreign policy goals, and we believe it remains prepared to 
do so in the future.
    At the outbreak of the Gulf War, the Iraqi regime took private 
citizens, including Americans, hostage and forced them to serve as 
``human shields'' at strategic sites throughout Iraq. The Iraqi 
government has long asserted that it cannot ensure the safety of U.S. 
citizen United Nations humanitarian workers in Iraq, prompting the 
United Nations to remove them. Iraq regularly fires anti-aircraft 
artillery and surface-to-air missiles at U.S. and coalition aircraft 
patrolling the no-fly ones over northern and southern Iraq, and 
regularly illuminates U.S. and coalition aircraft with target-
acquisition radar.
    The tactics Iraq uses in the repression of its own civilian 
population creates a high risk to innocent bystanders. In addition, 
U.S. citizens and other foreigners working inside Kuwait near the Iraqi 
borders have been detained by Iraqi authorities in the past and 
sentenced to lengthy jail terms for alleged illegal entry into the 
country. Although our interests are represented by the Embassy of 
Poland in Baghdad, its ability to obtain consular access to detained 
U.S. citizens and to perform emergency services is constrained. In 
light of these circumstances, and pursuant to the authorities set forth 
in 22 U.S.C. 211a, Executive Order 11295, and 22 CFR 51.73, I have 
determined that Iraq continues to be a country where ``there is 
imminent danger to the public health or physical safety of United 
States travellers''.
    Accordingly, United States passports shall continue to be invalid 
for travel to, in or through Iraq unless specifically validated for 
such travel under the authority of the Secretary of State. This 
restriction on the validity of U.S. passports for travel to, in or 
through Iraq shall not apply to and journalists on assignment there.
    The Public Notice shall be effective from the date it is published 
in the Federal Register and shall expire at midnight on February 25, 
2004, unless sooner extended or revoked by Public Notice.

    Dated: February 12, 2003.
Colin L. Powell,
Secretary of State, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 03-4105 Filed 2-24-03; 8:45 am]
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