The spying watchdog has "opened a can of worms" by investigating a potential New Zealand link to the CIA's rendition programme, a security expert says.
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) Cheryl Gwyn yesterday revealed in her office's annual report that she had opened an inquiry into whether New Zealand's spying agencies had any connection to the CIA programme, which ran from 2001 to 2009.
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Security analyst Paul Buchanan, who runs the 36th-Parallel Assessments consultancy, said there was no reason for the IGIS to begin an inquiry unless she had seen something that led her to believe it was worthwhile.
"She's opened a can of worms here because there was no reason for her to open this inquiry unless she saw something," Mr Buchanan told Radio New Zealand.
He said New Zealand would not have known about the post-9/11 rendition programme through the Five Eyes spying network, because that dealt primarily in electronic surveillance. The CIA regime focused on the use of black sites and "extraordinary rendition".