1 Sep 2011

Leaked documents allege NZ man linked to al-Qaeda

4:23 pm on 1 September 2011

WikiLeaks has published documents alleging that a New Zealander has links to al-Qaeda.

The documents allege that Mark Taylor, 38, has ties to a radical Yemeni cleric who is connected to an offshoot of the terrorist group and recommend that he be placed on a watchlist.

WikiLeaks says the the names were provided to the United States embassy by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

Mr Taylor had been living in Australia but has returned to New Zealand and was one of 23 people in Australia linked to the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

In 2009, Mr Taylor was temporarily detained by security forces in Pakistan for having suspected links to Islamic militants.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who is also the Security Intelligence Service Minister, says he is aware of Mr Taylor having direct links to al-Qaeda.

"For reasons that you'll appreciate, I can't go into great detail about Mark Taylor. All I can say is he's known to us. He's someone that has quite a number of restrictions on him for very good reason."

Mr Key says Mr Taylor is currently living in New Zealand, but the public has nothing to fear from him.