WELLINGTON, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- New Zealand Government stopped from Tuesday offshore processing of "high-risk" visa applications after two former high-ranking Iraqi officials entered the country.

    They came in on visitor's visas issued at the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok, said the government.

    Immigration Minister Paul Swain confirmed Amer Mahdi Alkhashali,a former Iraq Minister for Agriculture and Agrarian Reform under the Saddam Hussein regime, is in New Zealand.

    The second man, former Iraqi ambassador to Cuba and Bangladesh, had his visitor's visa revoked Monday following a search of records by the Immigration Service.

    "I am extremely unhappy with this situation," Swain told reporters.

    The minister said he no longer had confidence in the approval process for visa applications from "high risk" countries at the Immigration Service's Bangkok office.

    The New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok processes all visa applications from Asia and the Middle East, which account for about 90 percent of requests from 54 countries deemed "high risk" following new immigration procedures introduced two years ago.

    Swain issued Tuesday night instructions to the Immigration Service that all applications from all high risk countries under all immigration categories now be processed in New Zealand.

    He also announced the establishment of a special team to process the applications and review all applications from high risk countries over the past two years. Enditem