Police and SIS must publish report on spying allegations

The New Zealand Police and SIS must make public their assessment of whether Mossad agents have been operating in New Zealand, and whether security has been compromised, Green Party Police spokesperson Keith Locke said today.

The normally secretive New Zealand Security Intelligence Service has given details to the media of suspicious activity before and after the Christchurch earthquake involving Israeli citizens.

"We need to know why a young Israeli, Benyamin Mizrahi, killed in the Christchurch earthquake, was carrying five or more passports, and whether he was assessed to be a Mossad agent," said Mr Locke.

"It is important for us to know if any of the Israelis in Christchurch were travelling on false passports, or had them in their possession. Following the Mossad assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last year, there is an international police effort to stop Israeli agents obtaining false passports.

"It would be inexcusable, after two Mossad agents were imprisoned for passport fraud in 2004 for Mossad agents to once again be present here with false documentation.

"We also need more information as to why the SIS thought the Police computer may have been compromised," said Mr Locke.

"The Prime Minister is wrong when he says it is not in the public's interest to be told.

"As in any public report, the Police and SIS are entitled to withhold operational details, but we need to know what conclusions they have reached."

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