A Christchurch mosque has been linked to the drone killing of New Zealand al-Qaida suspect Daryl Jones.
The parents of an Australian killed alongside Jones say their son was taught radical Islam in Christchurch, where he also met Mr Jones.
Christopher Havard was killed alongside Mr Jones by a US drone in Yemen last year.
His parents, Neill and Bronwyn Dowrick, say their son told them he was first taught radical Islam at the Al Noor mosque in Addington.
Mr Havard moved from Australia to New Zealand in 2010. He’s remembered at the mosque by the name of Saleem Khattab.
“[He was] no different than other people,” says mosque president Mohamed Jama. “He was a normal man.”
Mr Havard’s parents say it’s at the mosque he met fellow convert Mr Jones, who was known at Muslim Bin John.
But the mosque can’t remember Mr Jones, and denies teaching radical Islam.
It seems Kiwi spies may have had the mosque under surveillance.
“I’m not going to go into the individual entities or the operations that the SIS or the GCSB conducted,” says Prime Minister John Key.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) began an investigation into Mr Havard’s possible involvement in an alleged al-Qaida kidnapping of three westerners in Yemen.
Documents show, “Mr Havard and Mr Nin John were of long-standing interest to the AFP due to their assessed activities in Yemen liked to al-Qaida”.
All that’s known of Mr Jones is that he was 31 years old, a joint New Zealand-Australian citizen, and his family are still here.
3 News
