The Jordanian government denied news reports claiming that Iraqis will soon need to obtain visas from Baghdad before entering Jordan, the Jordan Times reported on Monday.

"Iraqis will not need visas to enter the kingdom, and there are no preconditions imposed on them before they reach the Jordanian border", Jordanian Interior Ministry spokesman Ziyad al-Zubi was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"We have not imposed any limits in any way on the number of Iraqis who are allowed to enter Jordan as it has been reported by some newspapers", he added.

Al-Zubi said the only official decision made so far relating to Iraqis wishing to enter Jordan are for holders of the older S series passports, who would be barred from entering "for security reasons" as of June 1.

Only Iraqis holding the new G series passports will be allowed to enter the country, he said.

Earlier this month, Jordan's government spokesperson Nasser Judeh said Jordan was considering plans to manage the entry of Iraqis into its territory and deal with hundreds of thousands already in the country. But he did not mention visa regulations.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are currently around 750,000 to one million Iraqis in Jordan.

Source: Xinhua