Pakistani Consul General in Toronto denied entry into the United States, after refusing to be fingerprinted, by Badr Munir Chaudhry, Pakistan Post, 7 May 2003. Translated from Urdu by Rehan Ansari.

U.S. authorities denied entry to the Pakistani Consul-General in Toronto, Ghalib Iqbal, after he refused to be fingerprinted. The diplomat planned to visit the United States to see his child, who is studying here. Iqbal refused to give his fingerprints, saying that because he was travelling on a diplomatic passport the new regulations did not apply to him.

The Pakistani Embassy in Ottawa registered a complaint with the State Department. The State Department’s position is that diplomats are not to be fingerprinted. According to immigration services, only U.S.-based diplomats are exempt from the new regulations requiring fingerprinting of Pakistan-born Canadians.