Government ends controversial registration of Middle Eastern men.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Cam Simpson and Flynn McRoberts

WASHINGTON _ The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it is largely scrapping a controversial Justice Department-initiated program requiring men from predominantly Muslim nations to come in for questioning, fingerprinting and photographing.

The domestic registration program, which resulted in more than 83,000 foreign men in the United States being labeled "high national security concerns" because of their nationalities, also led to deportation proceedings against almost 14,000 of the men. But the mandate, unveiled in June 2002 by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as a counter-terrorism initiative, did not produce terrorism charges against anyone.

The program also has sowed resentment in communities in America and abroad, deepening suspicions among Muslims that the U.S. government is anti-Islam.

The administration's announcement that it would suspend most of the requirements came as many in the first group of about 4,000 men scheduled to renew their registrations were filing into immigration offices around the country.

While blanket registration requirements are being dropped, officials said a small but unspecified number of men out of the more than 83,000 who originally registered could be required to come in for new interviews. The men would be alerted by government notices, officials said.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)