Photo: Geoff SloanAn investigation by a Muslim group suggests the country's security agencies downplayed the threat of a possible terror attack in New Zealand and misinformed the public. The Federation of Islamic Associations has taken the unusual step of publicly releasing its lengthy submission to the Royal Commission investigating the Christchurch mosque terror attacks. The federation's report stated New Zealand's Muslim communities were following increasing terror attacks overseas and knew they were vulnerable to it happening here. The NZIC's [New Zealand Intelligence Community] official security was inaccurate, and misinformed New Zealand," it stated. The March 15 mosque attack highlighted "systemic disfunction" in some government agencies, because they didn't consider the threat of a terror attack on Muslim communities here, it said.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 29, 2020 22:18 UTC