WASHINGTON, Dec 26: Pakistan has formally asked the United States to remove its name from the list of nations whose citizens are being considered a security risk.

Visitors from such countries have to register with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, besides being required to appear for special interviews, submit their photographs and fingerprints.

“We are allies in the war against terrorism. We do not belong to this list,” Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.

Qazi said that he had told senior US officials last week that it would be difficult for the Pakistani government to explain to its people why an ally should be placed on this list.

“They may not understand,” he added.

He acknowledged that the US officials had not informed Pakistan before announcing the decision.

His deputy chief of mission, Mohammed Sadiq, who was also present in the news conference, said that even on Dec. 16, when the decision was announced, “the State Department had continued to assure us that Pakistan was not included in the list.”

Diplomatic sources told Dawn that apparently the State Department and the National Security Council had opposed the decision.

Attorney General John Ashcroft had, however, ignored their advice and had declared Pakistan a security risk country along with another of the close US ally, Saudi Arabia.

They said that once the decision was taken, other departments had backed Ashcroft. As head of the Department of Justice, Ashcroft also oversees the INS, the department that deals with foreign visitors.

“US officials have, however, assured us that the law, requiring registration, is not Pakistan-specific,” said Ambassador Qazi. “They will continue to expand the list as the INS increases its capacity to deal with the process. Ultimately, citizens from each country of the world will be required to register with the INS.”

Qazi said that the US officials praised the Pakistani community in the United States and described them as being “law abiding and peace loving people who have made immense contributions to the American society.”

He said that he had told the US officials that Pakistan “fully appreciates” America’s security concerns but believed that these concerns could have been alleviated without putting Pakistan on the registration list.

Qazi would hold another round of meetings with the officials of the US administration after Christmas. He is also expected to consult the leaders of Pakistani community here.

He said that the Pakistani embassy was already consulting lawyers to help prepare Pakistani nationals for their registration interviews.

Qazi, however, said that the list did not reflect America’s relations with any of the countries.

Qatar, he said, was also on the list despite its being a very close US ally, as Washington has a major military base there.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani embassy said that three categories of Pakistani nationals, living in the United States, would be affected by the registration:

a) Those who have applied for general amnesty offered by the Clinton administration and whose cases are being processed;

b) Those who have applied for green cards or work permits; and

c) those who have been sponsored by US citizens, but their cases are still under consideration.

The ambassador said that the US officials have assured him that the registration would not affect the naturalization process of the Pakistani nationals.

Pakistani nationals living in the United States are required to register from Jan 13 to Feb 21. Those who fail to do so may be arrested, fined and deported.