Saturday, January 29, 2005

Oman Flooded by Infiltrators from Iran

Middle East Newsline:
Oman has been struggling with increasing infiltration from Iran. Officials said thousands of Muslims from Pakistan and South Asia have used Iran as a launching pad for illegal entry into Oman. They said the infiltrators charter boats to cross from Iran into the sultanate.

Iran has been approached to help stop the infiltration into Oman. But so far little has been done to tighten security along the 900-kilometer Iranian-Pakistan border.

Officials said thousands of Pakistanis and others nationals from South Asia have infiltrated Oman in a search for work. But they said the infiltrators were also believed to include Islamic insurgents and criminals.