SMH reports:
An embarrassed New Zealand government has ordered an urgent shake-up of its immigration system after it was revealed two former members of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime were staying in the country.The move followed an opposition party leader telling the nation’s parliament on Tuesday that a former Iraqi cabinet member of the 1980s had entered the country a month ago and was seeking refugee status.New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said former Iraqi agriculture minister Amer Mahdi Alkashali, also known as Amer Mahdi Saleh Khashaly, arrived about a month ago.The government later confirmed the man had entered New Zealand on an Iraqi passport and would be removed.The news follows confirmation by the government on Monday that an unnamed former Iraqi diplomat of the Saddam era had been staying in the country on a visitor’s visa.
A New Zealand official has told reporters that the incident has been blown out of proportion. “At least they weren’t Mossad agents“, he said.
