WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Latin American countries plan to follow Mexico's example by issuing consular identification cards to illegal immigrants in the United States, despite FBI warnings that the cards pose a security threat, officials said on Thursday.

Mexico has issued around two million of the cards, known as the "matricula consular" to its nationals, whether they are in the United States legally or illegally, in the past two years. Guatemala began offering a similar card last year.

Ecuador recently started issuing cards to its nationals. Honduras expects to begin a program soon while Nicaragua, El Salvador and Brazil are studying the issue.

"We're looking to implement this project as soon as possible. We're expecting government approval any day," said Ramon Custodio, minister for political affairs at the Honduran embassy in Washington. The 2000 census showed there were around 217,000 Hondurans in the United States.

Nicaraguan embassy spokesman Arturo Wallace said: "We are also interested in providing some form of identification for our citizens in the United States and we are carefully analyzing the Mexican and Guatemalan experience."

Nicaragua has 600,000 to one million nationals in the United States.

The Mexican card has received growing acceptance from commercial institutions and state and local government. It is accepted as identification by more than 100 U.S. banks and at least 800 police departments. A handful of states accept them for issuance of driver's licenses and the Transportation Security Administration accepts them for air travelers.

But in congressional testimony last June, Steven McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's intelligence office, said the cards were not a reliable form of identification and posed a potential security hazard.

"There are major criminal threats posed by the cards and a potential terrorist threat," he said.

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge in September also voiced concern. "There seem to be some mayors and financial institutions that are accepting it. For the time being, they do so at their peril," he said.

BUSH TAKES NO POSITION

The White House has taken no position on the cards, pending the outcome of an inter-agency review. That leaves individual states, counties and cities free to make their own policies. President (George W.) Bush is anxious to court Latino voters before next year's presidential elections. On the other hand, he cannot dismiss security fears.

There are an estimated 8 to 10 million illegal immigrants in the United States, according to the Census Bureau, the vast majority from Central America, particularly Mexico.

Part of the impetus for accepting the cards comes from banks and other financial institutions which see a vast untapped market. The U.S. Treasury Department recently issued regulations allowing banks to accept the cards from people wishing to open accounts.

"Having the card makes it easier for an alien to get work in the United States and transfer remittances back to their home country," said Jack Martin of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports limiting immigration.

Critics point to media accounts of Mexican ID cards being found in the hands of non-Mexicans. They say Mexico has 300 consulates in the United States but no unified data base so that one individual could easily get several cards.

But Mexican officials say there are stringent security precautions in place. Individuals must present an original Mexican birth certificate, a photo ID card such as a passport, and a utility bill or other proof of residence.

Custodio of the Honduran embassy said the card his country intends to issue would include more personal information embedded in a bar code and more security safeguards than the driver's licenses issued by most U.S. states.