Witches claim success as police chase faxes

By Chris Daniels

Auckland police are scrambling to recover United States Apec security faxes, mistakenly sent to a Mangere chicken processing factory.

The New Zealand Herald revealed yesterday that Poultry Pride owner Saji Philips had received faxes showing names of agents looking after "White House communications equipment" and the police began a hunt for the documents.

Yesterday morning detectives visited Mr Philips, who was already under siege from the world's media intrigued by the incident.

The police then telephoned his business associate Tama Tawhara and asked him to call at the Auckland central police station.

They questioned him about the misdirected faxes and asked him to hand them over. The police then asked the Herald for copies of the faxes, but the request was declined.

The faxes spoke of secure communications equipment being installed in the control tower of Auckland Airport, monitored by an agent with the possible non-de-plume of "Carl Steinlager," and referred to Carl Seinsberger.

Leigh Cookson, a spokeswoman for Witches Against Apec, said the faxes were clear evidence that an earlier hex placed on the conference had begun to work.

"Witches against Apec claim the success of the hex directed US officials to send confidential documents to the wrong fax number, and warn Apec leaders not to count their chickens before they hatch."