New Zealand, April 08: New Zealand spy chiefs made a rare public statement Thursday to deny claims a communications base was under US control and undermining government policy by helping with military operations in Iraq.
The Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) Bruce Ferguson and his predecessor Warren Tucker went public over continuing controversy following an attack by peace activists on the Waihopai spy station.
“The Waihopai station was not – and is not – being used to contribute to ‘torture, war, and the use of weapons of mass destruction, such as depleted uranium’ as claimed,” Mr Ferguson and Mr Tucker said.
“It was not – and is not – contributing to ‘unspeakable evil’. Quite the reverse.”
The base run by the GCSB intercepts communications and the intelligence is reportedly shared with the US, Canada, Australia and Britain.
—Agencies