New Zealand expresses strong support for anti-terrorist efforts
( 2001-09-17 10:13 ) (7 )

New Zealand has sent a strong essage to US President George W Bush supporting his plans to combat international terrorism, Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Monday.

"We've said count us in on a concerted international response," Clark said.

She also expressed New Zealand's revulsion at the terrorist acts which killed thousands last week.

Clark offered the use of crack Special Air Services commandos and New Zealand intelligence resources in any action against those responsible for last Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

While the US military has not asked New Zealand to put its forces on standby, Clark said parts of its forces, such as the Special Air Service, are "always ready."

"And, of course, the very close relationship we have ... with the US is the intelligence relationship ... and obviously we're being especially vigilant at the moment," Clark said.

Clark said she would not be surprised if all the activity lead to a US attack on Afghanistan, but added that the Bush administration was not rushing into such a response.

"I think ... it is carefully contemplating what it might do and where. It will be conscious, for example, that it doesn't want to create a whole lot more martyrs of ... innocent people going about their business," Clark told National Radio.

"On the other hand the attraction to them of taking out the leader of terrorist networks is pretty obvious. Now how those networks would then respond is another matter," she added.