PM skirts issue of bugged UN conversations

By AUDREY YOUNG, political editor

Helen Clark would not say yesterday whether New Zealand had received transcripts of bugged conversations of United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq and UN secretary General Kofi Annan.

"I've never said anything about receiving transcripts," the Prime Minister said when questioned at her post-Cabinet press conference.

Asked if she had received transcripts, she said "I don't comment on intelligence matters".

Confirming or even denying she had received such transcripts would be likely to jeopardise New Zealand's sharing of future intelligence information from its allies.

She was speaking on the eve of a trip to Canberra where she will hold talks tomorrow with Australian Prime Minister Prime Minister John Howard.

Reports emerged last week that in the lead-up to the war, the United States and Britain bugged conversations of Mr Annan and weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Richard Butler and shared them with allies Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Speaking about general scepticism of intelligence agencies given their apparent miscalculations over Iraq's capacity to make weapons of mass destruction, Helen Clark said: "New Zealand didn't go to war, therefore the questions that are being raised in other countries are not particularly pertinent here. We made our own assessments."

She said she had embarked on her own independent intelligence-gathering efforts.

"I don't want to comment on any other Government but I have an acute awareness of what intelligence is. It often cannot be corroborated. Therefore it must be used with particular care."

In the case of the run-up to the war with Iraq, she had had the opportunity to test opinion of quite a lot of people.

She had spoken with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on two occasions, sat around an Apec table with President Bush, spoken with President Mubarak in Egypt, with Kofi Annan, and with weapons inspector Hans Blix.

On tomorrow's agenda, the leaders will discuss the impact of Australia's trade agreement with the US on New Zealand and progress of the Doha Development round at the World Trade Organisation.

Helen Clark, as current chairwoman of the Pacific Islands Forum, will also seek Mr Howard's support for a special meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum ahead of the scheduled August meeting to endorse a restructuring of the organisation.