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Pak wants Americans tested for HIV
Reflecting growing outrage against America, Pakistan's religious right presented the government with a new list of demands Tuesday, calling for the fingerprinting of Americans, a boycott of US products and compulsory AIDS testing of US visitors.This could really cut back on the number of Americans who are considering emigrating to Pakistan A coalition of Islamic parties, which gained considerable political clout after last October's general elections, is threatening nationwide demonstrations to press the demands. Why not? It's not like Pakistan has any other problems that deserve more attention But a government spokesman said it had no plans to either fingerprint Americans or impose mandatory HIV testing. "Such demands cannot be accepted," Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikar Ahmad said, without elaborating. He accused the religious right of trying to make trouble for President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the pro-military government, a staunch ally of the United States in its war on terror. Snigger "Religious leaders keep making such absurd demands. ... Such statements serve no cause except to create problems for the government," Ahmad said. And allow the gov to say "Hey, you better keep writing off our debts or these guys will take over" or maybe I am just paranoid. The demand for fingerprinting of Americans reflects Pakistanis' anger over new US rules requiring citizens of Pakistan, other predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea to be fingerprinted and photographed by immigration agents while staying in the United States Posted by: Paul 2003-01-29 |
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