Official documents that have come to light in Australia show a New Zealander killed in a drone strike in Yemen last year had been the subject of criminal and counter-terrorism investigations.
Daryl Jones, also known as Muslim Bin John, held New Zealand and Australian citizenship.
He was killed alongside Australian Christopher Havard and three other people in what United States forces said was a counter-terrorism operation against an al-Qaeda affiliate group.
New Zealand authorities have refused to release information about Mr Jones but Official Information Act requests made by Radio New Zealand have resulted in confirmation that he acquired his New Zealand citizenship by descent.
The national security correspondent for The Australian newspaper, Paul Maley, says the documents reveal he had been the subject of numerous Australian customs and border protection security alerts and counter-terrorism investigations.
"The documents make it clear than Bin John was the subject of various alerts, and had been the subject of criminal and counter-terrorism investigations in the past."
Mr Maley says his own research has shown that the New Zealander briefly came to the attention of police when he became involved with a group of extremists in South Western Sydney.
