Bombing suspect was held in NZ

By EUGENE BINGHAM

A Pakistani man suspected of having links to a militant bombing fled to New Zealand and tried to claim asylum here.

After arriving in Auckland on a false passport, he was held in prison for months while authorities checked his background and even investigated whether he was involved with al Qaeda.

Frustrated with his treatment in New Zealand, he eventually returned to Pakistan - where he is believed to have been taken in for questioning about his close association with militants wanted for a 1994 bombing which killed 85 people in Argentina.

Islamic extremists have been blamed for the car-bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires. Although 20 people have faced charges for various roles in the attack, investigators say they are still hunting for the main perpetrators.

The man was initially held under the Government's policy of detaining all refugee claimants after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a policy which has been challenged and is now before the Court of Appeal.

He was transferred to the Auckland Central Remand Prison when New Zealand authorities were alerted by Interpol to his connections after he made a claim for refugee status.

The man denied any involvement in the bombing or any militant groups, although he admitted using false travel documents in his journey through Southeast Asia, South Africa and Argentina to New Zealand last year.

His lawyer, Darrell Naden, said this week he believed his client was a genuine refugee and not a terrorist.

"He was just absolutely overwhelmed by all of this - he was running for his life and then this gets slapped on him," said Mr Naden.

The case has been revealed in a decision of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority declining the man's appeal for asylum.

The 26-year-old from northern Pakistan arrived in the country in November last year after spending four months in Indonesia with a man known only as M, a people-smuggling agent.

The pair obtained false Indonesian passports and travelled to South Africa and Argentina together. The man then flew to New Zealand on his own, leaving M behind in Argentina.

M was later arrested as he tried to fly out of Argentina. He was on a wanted list for involvement in the bombing, which has been blamed on Iranian Hezbollah.

Interpol tipped off New Zealand officials that M's travelling companion was in the country and they were interested in his connections.

After a Crown lawyer, Mark Woolford, told the appeals authority about the Interpol report, the authority asked officials to investigate the man's identity, whether he was linked to al Qaeda and whether he was involved in the Argentine bombing or other terrorist attacks.

But before the answers were provided, the man left New Zealand.

He had been told about the Interpol report and advised by Mr Naden that if his appeal failed and he was deported, he would be sent to Argentina. He decided to arrange for his own departure instead and left Auckland on March 8.

A source close to the case told the Weekend Herald that the man's true background remained a mystery.

"We didn't know how close his association was with the guy who landed in Buenos Aires," said the source.

Mr Naden said that although there were legitimate questions to put to the man, he was treated badly by New Zealand.

"He was discriminated against in this huge dragnet of concern about anyone with any link to those kinds of groups, real or not.

"There were grounds for their concern, but I think it was a storm in a teacup."

Asked why the man chose to come to New Zealand, Mr Naden said: "Within these circles it's a great country, it's got its doors open to legitimate refugee claims. He thought he had one - I thought he had one."

He had left New Zealand because he was being treated badly by fellow prisoners and was scared.

"He wanted to get out of the country and take his chances in hiding back home."

In its decision, the appeal authority said it was "somewhat bizarre" that the man continued with his refugee application while arranging to return to the country from which he was claiming asylum.

He had told the authority he was a student leader of the Jamaat-E-Islami party and had spoken out against a local senior political figure. He gave evidence about being abducted and threatened by people apparently linked to the politician.

The man also told the authority he left Pakistan after learning a fatwa had been issued against him by the pro-Taleban Jamiat Ulema-E-Islam.

The authority ruled that it did not believe the man was telling the truth about the fatwa.

Interpol refused to comment on the man or say what had happened to him since leaving New Zealand.

Further reading
Feature: Immigration