Trump to drop Iraq from list of banned immigration countries

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary US travel ban, unnamed  officials said. Four officials say the decision follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department. They had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq’s inclusion given its key role in fighting the IS group, it added. Trump is expected to sign the new order on Wednesday. An earlier order was blocked by federal courts. Citizens of six other predominantly Muslim countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — will remain on the travel ban list, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the order before it is signed. Those bans are effective for 90 days. The new order includes other changes as well. The officials said the 12-page document no longer singles out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and instead includes them as part of a general, 120-day suspension of new refugee admissions. — Agencies