The German foreign ministry is set to issue new guidelines tightening visa regulations in a bid to crack down on people abusing the terms of their visits, a top ministry official has confirmed. Juergen Chrobog, minister of state in the foreign ministry, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that new rules will be implemented shortly in all German embassies and consulates. "We are an open country and will remain so. But we will not issue any visas if there is any danger of abuse," he said. The new guidelines will replace previous regulations which have been criticized as too liberal. German media reports said the foreign ministry had come under fire from Interior Minister Otto Schily, who is reportedly now seeking a say in visa policies. According to Focus news magazine to appear Monday, foreign ministry staff believe Schily is behind "a large-scale conspiracy" against the ministry over visa-issuing practice. However, Chrobog told dpa that reported incidents of abuse or violations in the issuing of visas had been long cleared up. The foreign ministry has been criticized for granting visas to suspected Islamists, despite security checks, and Schily is said to have raised five cases where visas should not have been granted. Chrobog said Germany was "an open and receptive country" but also must give top priority to security as a result particularly of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. --more 1529 Local Time 1229 GMT
