Ex-SAS men in secret rescue

By STAFF REPORTERS

An undercover team of former SAS soldiers has rescued a wealthy businessman from captivity and brought him to New Zealand.

The Chinese Indonesian businessman was believed to be under guard in Auckland last night after a secret operation that reportedly took place practically under the noses of New Zealand forces in East Timor.

The agents were working for an Auckland security firm, but are certain to have retained close links with the SAS.

Soldiers who leave the tight-knit New Zealand SAS, based at Hobsonville, commonly end up working for security firms all over the world. The work is known in SAS parlance as "in the circuit."

Defence ministry officials yesterday denied any knowledge of the raid.

The security firm, Onix International Ltd, has a financial link to Labour MP John Tamihere, who sought an assurance from the company yesterday that it had not gone into East Timor.

Mr Tamihere said last night he understood the incident happened somewhere in neighbouring Indonesia.

He did not know how far it might have been from East Timor, which shares a land border with Indonesia.

Foreign Minister Phil Goff was seeking answers yesterday after the Independent business weekly newspaper reported that a squad of up to 10 ex-SAS troopers snatched the man from East Timor.

His officials intend discussing with the police and the Immigration Service whether any New Zealand laws were broken in bringing the rescued businessman into this country.

Mr Tamihere said he understood the imprisoned man was rescued without major incident or injuries by a group of "highly credible and well-trained people."

He said he had an indirect link to Onix, whose two main directors are former SAS soldiers. It provided security for the America's Cup and the Apec leaders' summit in Auckland last year.

Mr Tamihere represents the Waipareira Trust as a director in finance company Westland Ltd, a debenture holder in Onix with a 25 per cent stake.

The squad is said to have freed businessman Johnson Cornelius Lo from a tiny cell where he was being held, apparently for ransom, by a group of police officers or military men.

Mr Lo claimed to be heir to the Tiger Balm fortune, but the Independent said Onix is yet to be paid for an operation believed to have cost more than $220,000.

Mr Lo is understood to have entered New Zealand on a visitor's permit in early December.

Mr Tamihere said he understood the rescue had a humanitarian aspect, "but at the end of the day, these people are professionals, they are paid to do a job."

They had done exceptionally well in the military, and now as civilians provided "excellent VIP security" at home and abroad.

Brigadier Martyn Dunne, New Zealand's senior officer in East Timor until last month, said he had no knowledge of any such rescue operation in the territory and would be very annoyed if any serving soldiers were involved.

His successor, Colonel Andrew Martin, a former SAS commander, said he could give an absolute assurance that no serving members were involved.

The Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Carey Adamson, said his organisation held "no responsibility for people who have finished their service with our armed forces," and no influence over their subsequent employment.

For SAS-trained agents, work "on the circuit" is highly paid and often dangerous.

In the past few years they are known to have guarded mines in Papua New Guinea, taken part in a civil war in Sierra Leone and operated in the drugs "golden triangle" of Thailand.

They are now doing "jobs" in the Philippines and working as trainers with American SWAT teams.

SAS soldiers keep in close touch with their brothers in arms, whether in or out of the unit.

Ex-SAS men are considered unlikely to have mounted an operation in Indonesia or East Timor without members of the service knowing about it, afterwards if not beforehand.