Iraqi claims he was a whistleblower

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has identified another former Iraqi official living in New Zealand - but the man says he was a whistleblower who fled the regime in fear for his life.

Mr Peters said "a number" of Iraqis had called his office to report sightings of former officials here since he announced last week that a former Iraqi diplomat, Zohair Mohammad al-Omar, was living in the Auckland suburb of Glenfield.

He said the latest man, Fakhri Sabri Mohammed, was the former mayor of Ambar district, which includes rebel hotspot Fallujah.

"Fallujah is infamously known around the world as the most difficult area, and it's a small little village, but it has a far greater reputation than that inside Ambar province of which this man was the mayor.

"He's occupying the highest position in this huge province and no one's up there without being a mate of Saddam's, and a trusted confidant of his."

Mr Mohammed, 63, who arrived in New Zealand as a refugee in March 2003 with his wife and two daughters, was visibly shocked when the Herald told him of Mr Peter's allegations.

He said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and New Zealand officials had interviewed him at length and checked his story.

He had been Deputy Governor of several towns and cities, including Baghdad, Kirkuk, Samarra, Tikrit and Basra, he said.

He became increasingly unhappy with the regime's ill-treatment of the Kurdish people, which threw him into conflict with then Governor of Kirkuk, Aiad Alrawi.

He objected to the treatment "because I am Muslim and that is the opposite of Muslim. All of them - Kurdish, Arabic, Turkomans ... - all of them are Iraqi. There is no difference between each group and the other group."

He said his situation became perilous when he had a run-in with Saddam's close relative Ali Hassan al-Majid - known as Chemical Ali and the Butcher of Kurdistan for his alleged toxic gas attacks on Kurds.

Al-Majid, who awaits trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, was one of the most powerful men in Saddam's Government - the fifth-ranked King of Spades in the US Army's Iraqi most-wanted deck of cards.

Mr Mohammed said he discovered Al-Majid was hoarding 150 tonnes of food intended to be distributed to old people, and he reported it to the Government.

He said it "was not easy" to challenge Al-Majid. He narrowly escaped arrest and fled to Jordan, and his family later followed. Two sons are now back in Iraq and a third son is in Jordan.

Mr Mohammed said that like most Iraqis he was a member of the Baath Party but he was not an active member and refused to take a higher role. In 1996 he submitted his resignation from the party, but was told if he quit he would lose his job and his children would be unable to go to school.

"We left our country because we were oppressed by the regime."

The Herald contacted the United Nations in Canberra to check Mr Mohammed's story but they were unable to provide an explanation by the time the paper went to press.

The family, who said they were grateful for New Zealand's help, now fear they will be "victimised again".