Sinn Fein's U.S. Representative Barred

[maddezmom]

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 26 minutes ago

DUBLIN, Ireland - U.S. immigration officials have barred a senior American-based representative of Sinn Fein from traveling back to the United States after a trip to Ireland because she violated her visa restrictions, the Irish Republican Army-linked party said Saturday.

Rita O'Hare, who has been Sinn Fein's senior lobbyist and organizer in the United States since 1998, was denied a visa to accompany Sinn Fein deputy leader Martin McGuinness on his visit next week to New York and Washington.

Peter King, a Republican congressman from New York who is sympathetic to Sinn Fein, said U.S. officials were trying to "send a signal" to the group with the travel ban.

On Saturday, McGuinness and O'Hare met U.S. Ambassador to Ireland James Kenny to seek a reversal of the ban.

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more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050521/ap_on_re_eu/ireland_sinn_fein