Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira died in the
explosion which has been dubbed the only act of international terrorism on New
Zealand soil. The French intelligence agent who led the deadly attack on the
Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand 30 years ago has for the
first time apologised for his actions. Mines planted by Kister, a naval
frogman, sank the vessel in Auckland harbour, killing Mr Pereira. Kister was
working as part of a 12-man team for France's DGSE spy agency at the time of
the attack. The Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985 was due to sail to Mururoa
atoll in French Polynesia to protest the explosion of a nuclear bomb by France where the tests were due to be conducted.
Kister told TVNZ's Sunday programme "We had to obey
orders, we were soldiers." He said the destruction of the vessel was
"disproportionate" and "an unfair, clandestine operation
conducted in an allied, friendly and peaceful country".
Only two agents have stood trial over the attack - Dominique
Prieur and Alain Mafart. At first the French Minister of Defence Charles Hernu
denied French involvement in the actual bombing claiming Prieur and Mafart had
simply been observing the Greenpeace ship. They were arrested in New Zealand
after the attack and sentenced to 10 years in jail for manslaughter. However, a
settlement meant that they were quickly transferred to a base in French Polynesia and
were released within two years.
Greenpeace USA said that during the production of its 2015
calendar, the calendar's publisher, Workman Publishing, sourced an image of
giraffes and zebras in Namibia from a nature photographer, Alain
Mafart-Renodier. "It was later discovered that Mafart-Renodier is also
Alain Mafart, one of the French military operatives who was involved in the
bombing of the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, in New Zealand in
1985." Greenpeace USA ordered the recycling of the 14,000 calendars in its
possession. Workman had distributed a further 19,000 to retailers and refused a
request to recall the calendars, unless Greenpeace paid out US$250,000
($300,387) for costs and lost profits. Greenpeace USA said. "We determined
that this was not the best use of our donors' money."
In a book, Mafart revealed agents had originally tried to
plant poison bacteria on the ship in order to make its crew ill.
World Socialist Party (New Zealand):
E-mail: wsp.nz@worldsocialism.org
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