Iraq parliament votes in favour of travel ban on US

Iraqi lawmakers voted Monday to call on the government to enact a reciprocal travel ban on Americans if Washington does not withdraw its decision to bar the entry of Iraqis.

The call is a response to President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen from entering the US for at least 90 days, a move he billed as an effort to make America safe from "radical Islamic terrorists".

The travel restrictions, which come on the heels of repeated assertions by Trump that the US should have stolen Iraq's oil before leaving in 2011, risk alienating the citizens and government of a country fighting against militants the president has cast as a major threat to America.

US President Donald Trump has imposed restrictions on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen ©Bryan R. Smith (AFP)

Parliament called on the Iraqi government to "respond in kind to the American decision in the event that the American side does not withdraw its decision", a parliamentary official who was present for the vote told AFP, quoting text of the decision that was read at the session.

"Parliament voted by majority on calling on the Iraqi government and the foreign ministry to respond in kind," MP Hakim al-Zamili said.

Sadiq al-Laban, another lawmaker, confirmed that "the vote was for a call on the government" to enact reciprocal measures.

"We are against this stance from the new administration," Laban said, adding: "We hope that the American administration will rethink... this decision."

Trump's decision led to the detention of incoming refugees at US airports, sparking protests, legal challenges and widespread condemnation from rights groups.

And it has led to a growing backlash inside Iraq that could undermine relations between Baghdad and the US amid the battle for Mosul, the largest military operation yet in the war against the Islamic State group.

- Security ramifications -

The parliamentary vote came a day after its foreign affairs committee made a similar call for Iraq to respond in kind to the US measure.

Hassan Shwairid, the deputy head of the committee, said that the call did not apply to the thousands of American military personnel in the country as part of the US-led coalition against IS.

But US Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham said Trump's ban would impact military cooperation and security in other ways.

"This executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona to fight our common enemies," the two lawmakers said in a joint statement.

"Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism," they said.

The Hashed al-Shaabi, a powerful paramilitary umbrella organisation that includes Iran-backed Shiite militias that fought against American forces in past years, called Sunday for US citizens to be banned from the country.

Both units from the Hashed and American troops are deployed in the Mosul area as part of the operation to retake the city from IS, and heightened anti-US sentiment among militiamen could increase the danger to Washington's forces.

Trump's travel restrictions also drew condemnation from populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, America's bete noir for much of its 2003-2011 war in Iraq.

"Get your nationals out before removing expatriates," said Sadr, scion of a powerful clerical family who rose to widespread fame due to his condemnation of and violent resistance to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. </s> Parliament committee calls on Baghdad to 'reciprocate' travel ban on Americans as Iraqis express sense of betrayal.

Iraq should "reciprocate" the United States' discriminatory travel ban on Iraqis and citizens from six other Muslim-majority countries, the parliament's foreign affairs committee told the Baghdad government.

The committee issued the call on Sunday following a meeting in the capital to discuss US President Donald Trump's ban.

"We ask the Iraqi government to reciprocate to the decision taken by the US administration," said the committee in a statement read to Reuters by one its members, Hassan Shwerid. "Iraq is in the frontline of the war of terrorism ... and it is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way."

Return to Iraq: Former translator chases safety in US

Iraq's Popular Mobilisation force also called for a ban, and for Americans already in the country to be expelled.

Popular Mobilisation is a coalition of Shia paramilitary groups armed and trained by Iran to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

An Iraqi government body approved the force last year.

Popular Mobilisation's call to ban US nationals came in a statement published by its spokesman, Ahmed al-Assadi.

From the northern city of Erbil, Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid reported that there is a "sense of betrayal and anger" among Iraqis, especially those who have helped and worked with the Iraqi forces.

"They are saying that they are shocked and feel betrayed, that the friends of America have been betrayed, and the enemies of America have been vindicated.

"There's anger among people who would never even dream of going to America, but they feel that they should not have been subjected to this blanket ban just for being an Iraqi."

Our correspondent said Iraq's government is now under pressure to take action against the US.

In Chicago, Al Jazeera's John Hendren reported that a former colleague's elderly father who was on his way to the US became stranded in Qatar following Trump's order, and was eventually forced to return to Iraq. </s> The Iraq parliament on Monday passed a “reciprocity measure” to counter United States President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions on people from seven Muslim-dominated countries, AP reported. Iraq and Iran had earlier said they would consider ways to respond to the curbs. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, has dismissed demands to cancel Trump’s visit to the country over his controversial ban, BBC reported.

Legislators Kamil al-Ghrairi and Mohammed Saadoun confirmed the decision, but did not specify if the ban was applicable for US military personnel and entrepreneurs, AP reported. They also did not clarify if it would hamper operations against the Islamic State group.

In the UK, a petition opposing the US president’s visit has secured 9 lakh signatures – only 1 lakh petitioners are needed to merit a discussion of the matter in Parliament, BBC reported. Trump’s imminent visit to the United Kingdom had been announced during Britain Prime Minister Theresa May’s trip to Washington.

Besides Iran and Iraq, Trump’s executive order signed on Friday applies to citizens of Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. “We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas,” Trump had said while announcing the move on Friday.

The new order immediately halts a US programme that allows for the relocation of people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice to the United States. The 2016 initiative had benefited around 85,000 people that year and was expanded by the Barack Obama administration to include 1,10,000 refugees in 2017. Exceptions during the freeze may be made on a case-to-case basis, officials said. </s> Washington (CNN) US President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Monday that bans immigration from six Muslim-majority countries, dropping Iraq from January's previous order, and reinstates a temporary blanket ban on all refugees.

The new travel ban comes six weeks after Trump's original executive order caused chaos at airports nationwide before it was blocked by federal courts. It removes out language in the original order that indefinitely banned Syrian refugees and called for prioritizing the admission of refugees who are religious minorities in their home countries. That provision drew criticism of a religious test for entry and would have prioritized Christians over Muslims fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East.

The new ban, which takes effect March 16, also explicitly exempts citizens of the six banned countries who are legal US permanent residents or have valid visas to enter the US -- including those whose visas were revoked during the original implementation of the ban, senior administration officials said.

"We cannot compromise our nation's security by allowing visitors entry when their own governments are unable or unwilling to provide the information we need to vet them responsibly, or when those governments actively support terrorism," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday.

The new measures will block citizens of Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from obtaining visas for at least 90 days. The order also suspends admission of refugees into the US for 120 days, directing US officials to improve vetting measures for a program that is already widely regarded as extremely stringent.

Trump signed the executive order earlier Monday in the Oval Office outside the view of reporters and news cameras, after more than three weeks of repeated delays, the latest of which came after White House officials decided last week to delay the signing to avoid cutting into positive coverage of Trump's joint address to Congress.

The delays also came amid an intense lobbying effort from Iraqi government officials, including from the country's prime minister, to remove Iraq from the original seven-state list of banned countries.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Iraq's removal from the list came after an intense review from the State Department to improve vetting of Iraqi citizens in collaboration with the Iraqi government, though he did not specify how vetting had been improved.

"The United States welcomes this kind of close cooperation," he said. "This revised order will bolster the security of the United States and our allies."

The rollout of the revised travel ban marks an important moment for the administration, which has little room for error after the chaotic debut of the original plan. That failure raised questions about the new White House's capacity to govern and to master the political intricacies needed to manage complicated political endeavors in Washington. It also brought Trump into conflict with the judiciary in the first sign of how constitutional checks and balances could challenge his vision of a powerful presidency built on expansive executive authority.

The original order came under intense criticism as an attempt to bar Muslims from entering the country, and Trump's call during the campaign for a "Muslim Ban" was cited in court cases attacking the ban.

The new order does not prioritize religious minorities when considering refugee admissions cases.

Administration officials Monday stressed they do not see the ban as targeting a specific religion.

"(The order is) not any way targeted as a Muslim ban ... we want to make sure everyone understands that," an official told reporters.

"The Department of Justice believes that this executive order just as the first executive order is a lawful and proper exercise of presidential authority," Sessions said.

Democrats responded by calling Trump's order a repeat version of the first attempt.

"Here we go again...Muslim Ban 2.0 #NoBanNoWall" tweeted Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, one of two Muslims serving in the House of Representatives.

Working to contain fallout

The newly crafted order also revealed that the administration wasn't just paying attention to the legal criticism in the courts, but also recalibrating in light of the heavy political fire they faced after the first order's messy rollout.

While administration lawyers argued the original travel ban went into effect immediately to prevent terrorists from rushing into the country, the revised ban will phase in after 10 days. The previous order will be rescinded on that date.

Trump had previously said he opposed giving any advance notice of the ban.

"If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!" he tweeted on January 30

The White House also abandoned the sense of urgency with which it implemented the first travel ban, delaying the signing of a new executive order multiple times over the last three weeks. Politics also came into play as White House officials delayed the signing from last Wednesday in part to allow positive coverage of the President's joint address to Congress to continue uninterrupted.

"We want the (executive order) to have its own 'moment,'" a senior administration official told CNN last week.

The President signed the action Monday morning without the fanfare he has given to other executive orders. No media was present during the signing at the White House, an administration official confirmed. White House spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted a picture of Trump signing the order.

White House officials collaborated for several weeks with officials at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and kept congressional leaders apprised of their progress this time around after the White House drew a backlash for keeping Congress and relevant federal agencies almost entirely in the dark during the first rollout.

To bolster its national security claims, the new executive order also states FBI has reported that approximately 300 people who entered the United States as refugees are "currently the subjects of counter-terrorism investigations."

"The fact remains that we are not immune to terrorist threats and that our enemies often use our own freedoms and generosity against us," Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said. "We cannot risk the prospect of malevolent actors using our immigration system to take American lives."

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, said the ban "has the same fundamental flaws" as the first order.

"We know that country of origin is a poor predictor of a propensity to commit acts of terror. If it were, Pakistan has been a far more problematic source of attack planning and would be at the top of the President's list, but that country merits not even a mention in the order," Schiff said in a statement.

Why Iraq was removed

But the new order was also delayed in part because of a debate within the administration over how to handle Iraq.

Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and national security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster had all advocated for Iraq to be removed from the Trump administration's list of banned countries in the new executive order for diplomatic reasons, including Iraq's role in fighting ISIS, sources told CNN's Elise Labott and Evan Perez. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also supported the move.

Iraq was removed from the revised travel ban executive order after intensive lobbying from the Iraqi government at the highest levels, according to a senior US official.

That included a phone call between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on February 10 and an in-person conversation between Abadi and Vice President Mike Pence in Munich on February 18.

Those conversations were followed by discussions between Tillerson and members of the Iraqi government about vetting measures in place that would prevent suspected terrorists from leaving Iraq and coming to the United States. Iraq did not implement new measures; rather, the country provided more detail to US officials about how it screens travelers.

In Trump's call with Abadi, the President vowed to seek a resolution to his counterpart's concerns about his citizens' being unable to enter the United States, according to a readout of the phone call from Baghdad. The US official said Trump asked Tillerson to get greater clarity on vetting measures in Iraq.

Trump also faced pressure to remove Iraq from the order from some American national security officials, who argued the restriction burdened a key anti-ISIS partner. Some of those voices were holdovers from the Obama administration.

Iraq's Foreign Ministry welcomed reports of its removal from the list of countries affected by the travel ban.

"(The) Iraqi Foreign Ministry expresses deep relief regarding the executive order that was issued by the American president Donald Trump, which excludes the Iraqis from the travel ban to the United States," said Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Ahmad Jamal. "This is considered an important step in the right direction that strengthen and reinforces the strategic alliance between Baghdad and Washington in many fields, in particular the fight against terrorism."

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct Kelly's name. </s> President Donald Trump issued a new open-ended travel ban on Sunday that saw North Korea, Venezuela and Chad among a list of eight countries cited for poor security and lack of cooperation with US authorities.

The new restrictions replace an expiring 90-day measure that had locked Trump in political and legal battles since he took office in January over what critics alleged was an effort to block Muslims from the country. But the White House stressed that the measure was to protect the US from terror attacks.

“We are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the American people by establishing a minimum security baseline for entry into the United States,” Trump said in a statement.

“We cannot afford to continue the failed policies of the past, which present an unacceptable danger to our country. My highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and in issuing this new travel order, I am fulfilling that sacred obligation.”

Iraq kept off list

Sudan, one of the six majority-Muslim countries on the original travel ban, was removed from the list. The US has recently praised Sudan's efforts in fighting terrorism ahead of a decision expected in October on whether to lift decades-old sanctions on Khartoum.

Full bans were newly placed on nationals from North Korea and Chad, and extended for five countries on the original list: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Limited restrictions meanwhile were placed on Venezuela, for officials from government agencies including interior and foreign ministries, the main police and intelligence services, and other agencies. Trump's order said Caracas was not cooperating on security issues.

Officials speaking on background stressed that the decision was taken after an extensive review of high-risk countries by the Department of Homeland Security, which were all given the opportunity to improve their security standards.

The DHS report also said that Iraq did not meet its baseline security requirements.

But because Baghdad is a close ally and supports the presence of large numbers of US troops and civilians, officials said, the White House opted not to place Iraq on the list. But US-bound travellers there will face much tougher vetting.

“If you can't screen people effectively to know who's coming into your country, then you shouldn't allow people from that country to travel,” said White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.

Trump administration officials stressed that the restrictions are “conditions-based, not time-based,” indicating that significant improvements by countries could see them delisted from the travel ban.

Not a 'Muslim ban'

The officials also said the addition of North Korea and Venezuela demonstrated that the measure was based on security standards and was not a “Muslim ban”, as detractors have argued.

That accusation was accepted by federal appeals courts in lawsuits that blocked the first efforts by Trump to set the ban, in January and March. The ban, which also included a broader, 120-day ban on refugees that expires next month, will be argued in the Supreme Court on October 10.

“Religion, or the religious origin of individuals or nations, was not a factor,” a senior government official told reporters.

“The inclusion of those countries, Venezuela and North Korea, was about the fact that those governments are simply not compliant with our basic security requirements.”

But Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said that of the three countries added, “Chad is majority Muslim, travel from North Korea is already basically frozen and the restrictions on Venezuela only affect government officials on certain visas. You can't get any more transparent than that.”

On the decision to remove Sudan, she said: “Last week, the government ended Temporary Protected Status for Sudan, suggesting that the government of Sudan was pressured into agreeing to accept massive numbers of deported Sudanese nationals from the US in exchange for being dropped from the travel ban.”

“President Trump's original sin of targeting Muslims cannot be cured by throwing other countries onto his enemies list,” added Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union.

North Korea, locked in a dangerous face-off with Washington over its nuclear weapons program, was added, the order said, because Pyongyang “does not cooperate with the United States government in any respect”.

Chad was added to the list even though Trump's order called it “an important and valuable counterterrorism partner”. It pointed to the presence in the northern African country of designated terror groups like the militant Islamic State, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram, and said the government does not adequately share security and terrorism-related information.

The bans for the five countries from the previous 90-day order, which expired Sunday, would immediately continue under the new order. For North Korea, Chad, and Venezuela, the restrictions will be implemented starting October 18. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a revised executive order temporarily barring the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries and halting the nation’s refugee program.

A White House official says plans to roll out the order are on track for Monday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the order ahead of the official announcement.

The new order has been in the works since shortly after a federal court blocked Trump’s initial effort, but the administration has repeatedly pushed back the signing as it has worked to better co-ordinate with the agencies that it will need to implement the ban.

Trump administration officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first. Its goal will be the same: keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world.

Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the U.S. refugee program.

The revised order is expected to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban for 90 days. That follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq’s key role in fighting the Islamic State group.

According to a draft version of the new order outlined to lawmakers late last week, citizens of the other six countries will face the 90-day suspension of visa processing as the administration continues to analyze how to enhance vetting procedures.

Other changes are also expected, including making clear that all existing visas will be honoured and no longer singling out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban. Syrian refugees will now be treated like other refugees and be subjected to a 120-day suspension of the refugee program.

The new version is also expected to remove language that would give priority for religious minorities. Critics had accused the administration of adding such language to help Christians get into the United States while excluding Muslims.

Trump signed his original executive order in late January, sparking confusion and anger as travellers were detained at U.S. airports and barred from boarding flights at foreign airports.

The signing is expected to spark a new round of lawsuits and controversy. </s> President Donald Trump is questioning the legitimacy of the federal judge who blocked Trump’s executive order banning refugees and citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. Tweeting in response to the block, Trump insisted that, “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” The bona fide judge drawing the president’s ridicule is Federal District Court judge James Robart in Washington State, an appointee of President George W. Bush who was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. On Friday, Robart temporarily blocked Trump’s week-old executive order from being enforced on a nationwide scale, reinstating the more than 60,000 visas of previously barred travelers and leading U.S. Customs and Border Protection to instruct airlines to being allowing those passengers onto flights to the U.S. The White House quickly promised to request an emergency stay on the “outrageous” order, but the affected travelers will be totally free to enter the U.S. in the meantime.

The judge’s order immediately suspended both the 90-day ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, as well as the 120-day ban on refugees. Those bans will resume should the White House win an emergency stay on the order, but on Saturday morning the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that it was complying with the ruling and had “suspended any and all actions implementing the affected sections” of Trump’s executive order. Meanwhile, airlines have been announcing that any passenger with a valid U.S. visa will be allowed to board planes to America, though it’s not clear how many people will take advantage of the opportunity to do so, particularly since the ban could be reinstated at any time.

In issuing the nationwide injunction against Trump’s order, Judge Robart argued that there was “no support” for the Trump administration’s argument that the government has to protect the country from citizens of the seven listed countries. In Robart’s opinion, the attorneys general of Washington and Minnesota, who had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the travel ban, had “met their burden of demonstrating that they face immediate and irreparable injury as a result of the signing and implementation of the Executive Order” since the order “adversely affects the states’ residents in the areas of employment, education, business, family relations and freedom to travel.”

“The States themselves are harmed by virtue of the damage that implementation of the Executive Order has inflicted on the operations and missions of their public universities and other institutions of higher learning, as well as injury to the States’ operations, tax bases and public funds,” Robart added. Politico reports that the order “appears modeled on litigation conservative states used to halt President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration,” in that those states argued that they have standing to challenge federal actions that affect them financially.

In another tweet sent by the president on Saturday morning, he implied that allowing “certain people” from Middle Eastern countries would lead to “death and destruction.” In addition to banning refugees, and especially Syrian refugees, Trump’s executive order had also stipulated that the U.S. give preferential treatment to persecuted religious minorities when admitting refugees in the future, which he has indicated as meaning Christians in majority-Muslim countries. That priority classification for religious minorities was also blocked by Robart’s ruling.



This post has been updated throughout to reflect newly available information. </s> US President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a revised executive order temporarily barring the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries and halting the nation’s refugee program. A White House official says plans to roll out the order are on track for Monday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the order ahead of the official announcement.

The new order has been in the works since shortly after a federal court blocked Trump’s initial effort, but the administration has repeatedly pushed back the signing. Trump administration officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first. Its goal will be the same: keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world.

Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the US refugee program. The revised order is expected to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary US travel ban, following pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq’ key role in fighting the Islamic State group.

The new order is also expected to make other changes, including no longer singling out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and making clear that all existing visas will be honored. Trump signed his original executive order in late January, sparking confusion and anger as travelers were detained at US airports and barred from boarding flights at foreign airports. The signing is expected to spark a new round of lawsuits and outrage. </s> Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York and a plaintiff in a suit seeking to block the first order, said his office was reviewing the new ban, adding, “I stand ready to litigate — again — in order to protect New York’s families, institutions and economy.”

Congressional Republicans, who were split over the first travel ban, had a more muted reaction. But Speaker Paul D. Ryan, who backed the first order, issued a statement saying the revised order “advances our shared goal of protecting the homeland.”

Citizens of Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya will face a 90-day suspension of visa processing as the administration analyzes how to strengthen vetting procedures, according to a homeland security summary of the order.

The removal of Iraq from the list came after talks with security officials in Baghdad and at the urging of Mr. Mattis and State Department officials, who have been in communication with Iraqi officials alarmed that the ban will turn public sentiment in their country against the United States.

“On the basis of negotiations that have taken place between the government of Iraq and the U.S. Department of State in the last month, Iraq will increase cooperation with the U.S. government on the vetting of its citizens applying for a visa to travel to the United States,” homeland security officials wrote in a fact sheet given to reporters.

The timing of the ban seemed intended to reset the White House political narrative, after a turbulent week that began with Mr. Trump’s well-received address to Congress. That success was quickly overshadowed by the controversies over Mr. Sessions’s failure to inform the Senate of his contacts with the Russian ambassador and Mr. Trump’s unsupported accusation that President Barack Obama tapped Mr. Trump’s phones during the 2016 campaign.
The Iraqi Parliament votes in favour of a reciprocal travel ban on U.S. citizens if U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens of Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries is not reversed. The Iraqi travel ban will not be implemented while tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors are involved in the fight against ISIL.