10 Jul 2017

Mystery over what French spy knew of Rainbow Warrior bombing

1:24 pm on 10 July 2017

The police detective who investigated the 1985 Rainbow Warrior bombing says there are still unanswered questions about the involvement of the French spy who infiltrated Greenpeace prior to the attack.

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior lying in Auckland harbour after it was bombed in 1985.

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior lying in Auckland harbour after it was bombed in 1985. Photo: AFP / New Zealand Herald (files)

Former undercover agent Christine Cabon has spoken to reporters for the first time in the 32 years since the attack, which killed Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira.

She remains unrepentant and insists she was simply doing her job.

Former detective superintendent Allan Galbraith told Morning Report the extent of Ms Cabon's knowledge of the attack was still unclear

"We still have unanswered questions about what she actually knew [about what] was going to be done with the information she was gathering and whether she knew there was going to be a sabotage or whether she was acting simply in a vacuum so to speak and just gathering information ... so that would be very pertinent to us."

He said it was not uncommon for agents to be kept in the dark about what their team members were working on, because it kept the information secure.

"I think in her case she was probably... she was quite remote from the actual sabotage, in a way," he said.

Greenpeace New Zealand executive director Russel Norman said the French spy did not appreciate the immorality of her actions.

"The vast majority of French people are appalled by what happened.

"Cabon is a minority from the past, from a different era, and obviously can't see what she did was grossly immoral, and I feel sorry for her that she can't see it."

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs