Donald Trump's travel ban omits countries that were home to 9/11 attackers

New leader: Donald Trump signs executive orders including the "extreme vetting" of visa seekers from terror-plagued countries
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Hatty Collier30 January 2017

Donald Trump has not included countries that were home to the 9/11 attackers in his controversial travel ban.

The president said the new policy was designed to reduce the risk of terror attacks in the US and singled out seven countries as part of the ban.

The executive order, signed on Friday, put a temporary stop to the US's refugee programme, indefinitely banned Syrian refugees, and suspended all nationals from six other Muslim-majority countries - Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Yet the order does not exclude Saudi Arabia, home to 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 terror attacks and a country where Mr Trump has previously identified personal business interests.

Mr Trump's controversial travel ban has been condemned across the globe
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The other four were from Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates - none of which are included in the ban.

Chechnya, where Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were raised before moving to the US, is also exempt.

The brothers - ethnic Chechens who lived in the Dagestan region of southern Russia before moving to America around a decade before the 2013 attack - killed three people and injured nearly 300 others.

The travel ban has been condemned around the globe, with a Government petition proposing to ban Mr Trump’s state visit to the UK attracting more than a million signatures.

Protests have been planned around the world, including in major UK cities on Monday evening, while Hollywood stars hit out at the policy at the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Up to 18,000 Londoners have pledged to attend an “emergency demo” and march to Downing Street from 6pm this evening in protest at the policy.

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