Terrorism body reviews case

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 8

Terrorism body reviews case

Wellington reporter The Officials Committee on Terrorism met in Wellington yesterday to review the suspected bombing of the peace vessel Rainbow Warrior. The committee is a highranking body comprising the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ken Thompson; the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal D. E. Jamieson; the Secretary of Defence, Mr Denis McLean; the Director of Security, Brigadier John Smith; the Director of the External Intelligence Bureau and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr Merwyn Norrish, who is overseas and was represented yesterday by Mr Christopher Beeby as acting secretary. It is chaired by the permanent head of the Prime Minister’s Department, Mr Gerald Hensley, who issued a press statement saying that the meeting had taken place and that Mr Lange had attended part of it. Mr Hensley said the investigation remained primarily a police matter but that the committee would continue to meet as necessary. He later told “The Press” that the meeting had reviewed the state of the inquiry and the evidence that had so far come to

light. Mr Hensley would not be drawn yesterday on whether the committee was treating the bombing as terrorism. He said that while there was "a strong possibility” that this was the case it had not yet been established as a fact. Asked if the Rainbow Warrior incident had generated fears that New Zealand was vulnerable to the activities of terrorist groups, he said that had always been recognised. “Nowadays isolation is no safeguard or absolute protection. We have always known that,” he said. He indicated, however, that the committee was not confining its attention to the bombing but was rather exloring the wider security implications. Mr Hensley would not comment on whether greater protection would be given the Prime Minister and other important members of the Government as a result, saying that these matters were never discussed publicly. He said the committee reported direct to the Prime Minister and, in a terrorist emergency, to the Cabinet committee on terrorism — a step that has not so far been found necessary.