PM confident NZ will send Games team despite attack

Prime Minister John Key remains confident New Zealand athletes will attend the Delhi Commonwealth Games, despite the shooting of two Taiwanese tourists in the Indian capital overnight.

New Zealand Olympic officials are seeking more information about a shooting outside a New Delhi mosque that left two Taiwanese injured, three days before the first athletes are due to arrive for the Commonwealth Games.

Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire with an automatic pistol on a tourist bus outside New Delhi's main mosque on Sunday, injuring the tourists, police said.

The Commonwealth Games start on October 3, with 7000 foreign athletes and offices are expected in the Indian capital amid ongoing concerns about security from participating nations.

New Zealand team chef de mission Dave Currie is in Delhi doing final checks on security and other planning.

He is yet to commit to New Zealand attending the Games, which have been dogged with security and infrastructure concerns.

Currie was due to complete his reconnaissance mission this week.

Last Friday, he would not commit to New Zealand attending, saying concerns uncovered would be raised with Games organisers, and how well they were fixed would be a factor.

"We're working on the premise the Games are going to go ahead, and we'll be part of it," he told Radio New Zealand.

Mr Key this morning echoed that view.

"We are providing the best advice we can to the New Zealand Olympic Committee who have to make that decision by September 24 whether to travel to Dehli or not. I understand there has been extensive work looking through the Commonwealth Games Village... and other security areas.

"One always takes these things seriously but we are also very hopeful that the Commonwealth Games will proceed, that New Zealand will go and do very well."

The New Zealand Olympic Committee, which prepares and is responsible for the safety of the team, said it was seeking further information on the shooting.

Games athletes will live and compete inside an intense security cordon, which Currie said "appears to be working very well".

Tourists and Games spectators - when not at Games venues - are considered to be at greater risk of attack than the athletes themselves.

Athletes' Federation boss Rob Nichol said today the latest attack was not surprising.

"It's important to remain reasonably calm and continue to have a bit of faith in the process," he said

"It's definitely concerning, but it's not something that should necessarily result in a 180 degree shift," he told Radio New Zealand.

Mr Nichol said it was too soon for him to say whether he thought the team should go to India.

"We always plan and ask questions around the worst-case scenario, because the reality is Delhi and India are at high risk of terrorist attack and there is a Commonwealth Games being staged there.

"If the athletes are going to go and if the games are going to go ahead then you have to have security measures in place."

New Zealand has been operating alongside Britain, Australia and Canada in assessing how well Delhi is prepared to host the Games.

It is likely any decision on whether to attend or not would be made by a group of countries, rather than unilaterally.

The attackers struck outside the Jama Masjid mosque in the ancient walled city, a top tourist attraction for visitors to the Indian capital, leaving one of two victims - aged 26 and 27 - seriously hurt, medics said.

"According to our preliminary investigation, they (the gunmen) finished off an entire magazine of their Sten gun," assistant police commissioner Jagbir Singh said, referring to an automatic pistol.

One of the victims suffered a serious stomach wound, said Amit Banerjee, head of Lok Narayan Jay Prakash Hospital where the tourists have been transferred.

The other has a superficial head wound, he said.

Indian officials have been forced to defend security arrangements in the city ahead of the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games.

A series of security drills were underway in New Delhi today, with a beefed-up security presence on many of the capital's main roads.

India has a history of terrorist attacks and attack threat to Westerners is rated high.

Delhi is rated "some risk", with indications terrorists are planning attacks on "soft targets" such as markets, religious sites, festivals, tourist areas and fairs.

Major sporting events and public transport are rated a risk.

While Indian security is in accordance with international practice, the key will be how well it is implemented. Games venues, transport and hotels are rated by security officials as "difficult to disrupt", with transport rated the biggest vulnerability.

- NZPA