Government did all it could to help Kiwi in Ivory Coast, says PM

The Government did all it could to help New Zealand man Hamish Sands who died in the Ivory Coast, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.

The former Hawke's Bay man was detained by Ivory Coast rebels, the "New Forces", on suspicion of being a mercenary and of spying.

The cause of his death has yet to be established. Mr Sands' family maintain he had mental health problems, but was not suicidal.

There has been criticism of the Government that Mr Sands, 36, could have been saved.

Te Awamutu man Mike Subritzky said he contacted New Forces rebel leaders through their website and they had agreed to hand over Mr Sands to him on March 26, because he had a mental problem.

"I did (this) as a concerned parent and as a former soldier who had worked in Africa," Mr Subritzky said.

He had contacted a private security firm, Cambridge-based Extreme Group, and a "package" was put to the Government to consider.

But Mr Subritzky and Extreme Group owner John Halliday say the Government didn't get back to them.

On TV One's Breakfast show this morning Miss Clark said everything that could be done was.

"Absolutely. We worked through the UN, the Red Cross and we had assistance from the British embassy, the Canadian embassy and I don't believe there is any foundation in those statements."

Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff yesterday said Mr Subritzky's offer was unrealistic.

"We had an offer that if we paid $660,000, they'd get a plane up there, but that was never the solution.

"The solution was to negotiate his release. We were negotiating with the leadership of the New Forces, Mr Subritzky was talking to the manager of the website -- you've got to use your common sense as to where the real decision would have been made."

Miss Clark said she expected to be told autopsy results as soon as they were available this week.

A New Zealand diplomat has been sent from London to the Ivory Coast to be part of a United Nations inquiry into the death of Mr Sands.

Mr Sands had been kept in a jail in rebel-held Bouake since his capture in early March. He was moved to another prison 230km to the north in Korhogo on April 1 and is thought to have died on April 4 or 5.

His body was released by the rebels and moved to the government-held capital city of Abidjan in the south of the West African country, where the autopsy was performed.

- NZPA