Paper should share spy doubts, says PM

Prime Minister Helen Clark says a newspaper that claimed the Security Intelligence Service was spying on Maori should tell the head of an inquiry into the allegations that it no longer had confidence in its story.

"I would suggest that if the Sunday Star-Times itself now has doubts about the veracity of its story, as seems likely, the sooner it advises the Inspector-General the better," Helen Clark said yesterday.

After the November claims that Maori individuals and organisations were being bugged by the SIS in a "probably unlawful" operation, she sanctioned an inquiry by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Justice Paul Neazor.

A spokesman for the newspaper, John Boyd, yesterday declined to comment on Helen Clark's view or say whether the paper had indicated to Justice Neazor that the veracity of the story was in question.