French Consul given armed guard

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 5

French Consul given armed guard

PA Auckland The French Consul in Auckland has been given an armed guard and 24-hour Sjlice protection as detecves step up their hunt for the saboteurs of the Rainbow Warrior.

Speculation about a possible “French connection” in the fatal bombing which sank the Greenpeace flagship continued yesterday. The Auckland police appealed for information about a rental van used last week by a touring foreign couple. The French Consul in Auckland, Mr Lloyd Browne, Q.C., said last evening that his office and home were under constant police surveillance. An armed policeman shadowed, him at work on Friday. Security has also been increased round the French Embassy in Wellington. Mr Browne said he was approached by the police on

Friday and told the moves were precautionary, as it was not known what group had been responsible for the sabotage. He did not know of any police protection for French businesses or agencies in the city. Two early police inquiries which suggested a possible link between French nationals and the Rainbow Warrior case were ruled out yesterday. A mystery Frenchman who was aboard the protest trawler before it blew up and sank on Wednesday was questioned in Tahiti by the French police and appeared unconnected with the explosions. The man, who has not been named, told the police he was a militant pacifist and had visited the ship to express support for the crew. He had left his name and address with a crewman. The Tahiti police said the man had volunteered to

keep in touch and answer any New Zealand police questions. The Auckland police were reviewing the Tahitian report last evening. The police confirmed that their interest now was focused on a Newmans rental van and rubber raft abandoned at an Auckland beach.

A rescue helicopter was used for an hour yesterday scouring the inner Waitemata Harbour, Hobson Bay, and the area near Okahu Bay — where the raft was found — and divers began searching off the Ngapipi Road bridge on the waterfront. The police refused to say if items of relevance to the inquiry were recovered from the sea. Detective Superintendent Allan Galbraith, who is in charge of the inquiry, said 16 more detectives had been brought in to boost the squad to 40. The police, he said, were

trying to trace the movements of a Toyota Hiace “pop top” van between July 5 and July 12. It was found on Friday morning at the Newmans Motor Caravans base at Mount Wellington. Inquiries by the “New Zealand Herald” showed that a French couple who had hired the van were whisked away by the police and were believed to have been questioned at length. Mr Galbraith said the van was thought to have been through Thames, Hamilton, Auckland, and Northland with its occupants staying in motels or roadside rest areas.

Detectives were interested to talk to anyone who was in contact with foreign people travelling in the van.

Three persons have told the police of seeing a man in an inflatable Zodiac rubber dinghy in the inner harbour before leaving it about 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday.