Portugal opens inquiry into visa theft from Pakistan embassy

LISBON: Portugal’s foreign minister said on Friday it had opened an “urgent inquiry” into the reported theft of 35 entry visas for passports from its embassy in Islamabad.

The ministry has informed its remaining partners in the European Union as well as Pakistani authorities of the theft, it said in a statement. A passport with a visa allowing entry into Portugal would allow the holder to travel without restrictions to most other nations in the 25-member EU.

The visas were stolen from the embassy several weeks ago but the theft only came to the attention of Portugal’s Foreign Ministry in recent days, the Diario de Noticias newspaper reported on Friday.

In 1998 thieves took 28 passports from Portugal’s embassy in Islamabad after killing the night guard on duty at the time.

More than 4,500 Portuguese passports have vanished from embassies and consulates around the world over the past decade, according to figures from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cited by the newspaper. afp

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