Bail frees refugee to tell son of jail stint

Ahmed Zaoui no longer has to conceal his whereabouts from his youngest son, Youssef.

The Algerian refugee admitted on Television One last night that he had kept from Youssef - who is in hiding with his wife and their other three children in Malaysia - the fact that he had been locked up since fleeing to New Zealand two years ago.

In an interview recorded at the Auckland Remand Prison's chapel before his release on bail, he said he had even persuaded a fellow inmate to pose as his employer when talking to the youngster by phone.

He said one of the hardest parts of his ordeal was facing questions from Youssef about why he had left the family he hoped eventually to bring to New Zealand.

Mr Zaoui said he had come here after years in exile from Algeria's military regime because of this country's "big reputation" for respecting human rights, and a need to save his own life as well as that of his children.

"I knew it was a democratic country."

Asked if he was a risk to New Zealand, he said he had never been a terrorist but rather a victim of terrorism.

He dismissed a claim by Prime Minister Helen Clark that he knew what classified information the Security Intelligence Service held on him as "a fairy tale".

He challenged the Government to reveal any such information to the New Zealand people so they could make their own assessment.

Mr Zaoui also described himself as a liberal and moderate Muslim, who believed two Afghani women witnesses in a fraud case should lift their burqas in court so their faces could be seen giving evidence.

He said he had been ashamed to beg for asylum in New Zealand, even though he knew it was his right to stay here as a genuine refugee in a democratic country.

But he hoped it would eventually be safe enough for him and his family to return to Algeria.

Asked why he believed the Algerian authorities were so keen to kill him, he said: "Because I am a survivor, I am a witness for a war against a people."

He had tried to bury any anger he had about being imprisoned in this country in writing and prayer, and thanked supporters and the people of New Zealand in general for giving him "a peace that frees my heart".

Mr Zaoui was mobbed like a celebrity as his lawyers whisked him to freedom.

As his car finally emerged through two heavy steel gates he was saluted by the crowd outside.

Mr Zaoui, sitting next to lawyer Deborah Manning, smiled and waved through the window. As the media surged and his fans hollered in delight he suddenly appeared overwhelmed and slumped, putting his hands to his eyes.

It was unclear if he was crying but his lead counsel Dr Rodney Harrison decided not to let him out as planned.

The car sped off with members of the media running after it as fast as they could.

When Mr Zaoui arrived at the Dominican Friary in Newton, the new home he will share with Catholic priests, some journalists were already waiting.

There was one last glimpse of Mr Zaoui wearing a huge grin and clutching a bunch of flowers as he disappeared through the gates of the friary, locked away from the public for one more night.

Supporter Eamonn Deverall - a part-time research assistant at the Herald - said Mr Zaoui was still not free and his case was far from over.

He described meeting Mr Zaoui at Auckland Central Remand Prison for the first time.

"I was not sure who I was expecting to meet when I first arrived at the prison. Dreading awkward silences, I presumed that someone angry and depressed would be waiting. I could not have been more wrong.

"Ahmed describes himself as a fatalist and an optimist, but it was the latter quality that impressed me most.

"It has been a privilege to have been able to debate and discuss politics and the state of the world each week with a true intellectual."