In the course of a 20 April 2001 telephone interview, a representative of the Iraqi opposition organization the Iraqi National Congress (INC) in London stated that on official Iraqi documents, such as passports, the name of the bearer typically consists of the following three components: the bearer's first name, followed by the first name of his or her father, followed by the first name of his or her paternal grandfather. Occasionally a fourth element is added: the first name of the paternal great-grandfather (father of the paternal grandfather). The family name (laqab) will not necessarily appear. Regarding the family name, it is inherited from the father. Iraqi women normally retain their family names when they marry. Their children, however, will normally have the family name of their father.

Regarding transliteration of Arabic names into Latin letters, the representative stated that considerable variations of spelling frequently occur (for example, the same name may be written as "Hamid" or "Haamid"; "Hameed" or "Hamid"; "Majid", "Majeed", or "Mejeed"; "Nur", "Nour" or Noor"; "Kali" or "Qali"; "Khouri", "Khoury", "Kouri" or "Koury", etc.). In Iraq, only the Arabic versions of names are considered official, and hence subject to standardized spellings. Hence variations may even appear on official documents such as passports, when a person's name is transliterated into Latin letters. Corroborating information could not be found within time constraints.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Iraqi National Congress (INC), London. 20 April 2001. Telephone interview with a representative.