NZ Cricket under 'real pressure' following ICC decision, says Goff

10.00am

The Government is concerned about the New Zealand cricket team playing in Kenya because of reports that al Qaeda groups are active in East Africa, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff says.

He told NZPA that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was under "real pressure" as it met today in Christchurch to decide on its response to the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision that the Black Caps' World Cup game in Kenya should go ahead. An announcement from NZ Cricket is expected this afternoon.

Mr Goff said the Government had provided the NZC board with as much information as it could about the security situation in Kenya.

"The board itself has taken quite extraordinary measures to find out about the situation," he said.

"They're in a position where they are weighing up all of that material."

"I think most of us would be sympathetic to the board's concerns," Mr Goff said.

"Naturally, its paramount consideration is the safety of its people.

"Our concern is the reports of al Qaeda terrorist groups active in East Africa which are targeting Western interests.

"There's clear evidence of that -- they've struck twice in the past with great loss of life."

Mr Goff said the Government's information was that those groups were still present and were looking to target Western interests.

He considered criticism of New Zealand's stance from the Kenyan cricket authorities "totally unfair".

"This isn't a political situation we're worried about, it's not just law and order in a criminal sense," he said.

"The decision the board will have to make is whether the security arrangements are sufficient for them to go ahead with the match, also having regard for the pressure put on them that they default two points, may be fined an enormous amount, and Kenya is even talking about them being banned from the World Cup."

Mr Goff said the cricket team was different to normal tourists in two ways.

"On the positive side, they will have security that ordinary tourists don't.

"On the negative side they have a profile as a Western group which may attract the attention of terrorist operators.

"What the cricket board has to do is say: 'On balance, is the risk such that we can allow the game to go ahead, or should we withdraw the team?'

"They are in the best position to make that decision."

In November, 16 people were killed in a suicide bombing at an Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan city of Mombasa. Minutes earlier, two missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.

Islamic fundamentalist group al Qaeda has twice said it was responsible for the attacks, but Israeli officials have blamed al-Ittihad al-Islami, a Somali-based group with links to the al Qaeda network.

- NZPA