Police to probe NZ links to terror

By NAOMI LARKIN

A team of top police officers is being set up to investigate possible links between Afghan terrorist organisations and New Zealand.

A core group of five officers are scheduled to have their first meeting on Monday at the Counties Manukau district headquarters at Harlech House in Otahuhu.

The Counties Manukau district commander, Superintendent Ted Cox, said yesterday that, depending on what information the team uncovered, other enforcement agencies might become involved.

"It won't be until we meet on Monday that we will be working out the final details of exactly what these people are going to do," he said.

"We know there is potential of some kind of problems there, and we decided we needed to do some more work into it to find out exactly how big the problem is.

"So the start of it is some kind of scoping exercise in working with the other agencies, and we'll take it from there."

Mr Cox said the Immigration Service would be one of those agencies.

But he would not specify which other agencies would be involved or whether the probe would involve international organisations.

"We're just looking to flesh out a few things and then we'll get involved with the other agencies as it goes along - other agencies with an interest in the border at least," he said.



A worldwide hunt is being made for terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

The latest estimated death toll from the attacks is 6498.



Prime Minister Helen Clark last night reinforced New Zealand's commitment to the fight against terrorism.

"The international effort to deal to terrorism, which New Zealand supports, will be ongoing, multifaceted and prolonged," she said in a speech to the Export Institute in Auckland.

Mr Cox said the police team would start with five staff and would be based in Auckland.



"We're looking at some specific issues at the moment and obviously if anything is uncovered we'll consider which way we should develop from there," he said.

"But there is no suggestion at the moment that we're looking at any wider afield than the Auckland metropolitan area."

Plans for the police team did not, at this stage, include working with the American FBI or the CIA.

"But because of the types of people and the links that have been drawn very publicly, we have to be mindful of the potential," he said.

"We'll be looking at gaining an awareness of all the things that we've got there.

"We'll be looking at putting them on the table, assessing what we've got, what it means, how much validity there is to all the various claims that have been made ...

"That's all part of the process."

There was a "huge potential" to cause unnecessary public alarm when inquiries had yet to establish any links between the terror strikes in the US and New Zealand.

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