Farrakhan Is Foreign-Agent Probe Target

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s passport will be examined for entry and exit stamps from Iraq and Libya when he returns to the United States, a State Department official said Thursday.

Farrakhan and his delegation are due to return to Chicago on Saturday. He plans to deliver a major address Sunday at the University of Illinois.

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said: “If they do find those stamps, they will turn those passports over to the proper authorities, in this case the Justice Department, for a review of whether or not U.S. laws were violated.”

The Justice Department’s criminal division has already sent Farrakhan a letter asking about statements he made in Libya that provoked Clinton administration officials. It also advised him he may have to register with the U.S. government as a Libyan agent, department officials have said.

Justice Department officials said the foreign-agent inquiry is the only one in progress relating to Farrakhan.

Farrakhan is unlikely to have violated prohibitions on spending U.S. currency in Libya or misusing a U.S. passport because Libya is aware of the measures and pays the expenses of U.S. guests and does not stamp their passports, the Justice Department officials said.

The State Department has criticized Farrakhan for his scathing remarks about U.S. policy during the trip, and for condemning the U.N. embargo of Iraq, imposed after Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990.