-Caveat Lector- Wednesday, September 1, 1999 NEW ZEALAND http://www.scmp.com/News/Asia/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-199909010258183 63.asp CIA 'may have poisoned ex-PM' DAVID BARBER in Wellington Former Labour prime minister Norman Kirk was remembered on the 25th anniversary of his death in office yesterday with a claim that he may have been poisoned by the CIA. The president of the Labour Party, Bob Harvey, called on Prime Minister Jenny Shipley to ask US President Bill Clinton to hand over Central Intelligence Agency files on Kirk when they met in Auckland next month. Mr Harvey said Kirk, who was 51 when he died of a heart attack, was unpopular with the Americans after telling them they could not use New Zealand as a nuclear submarine base if there was a nuclear holocaust in the northern hemisphere. Mr Harvey claimed the CIA had played a role in the removal from office of Australian Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam and Kirk "may have paid the supreme price" after challenging the US during the Cold War. He suspected he could have been poisoned by the CIA during an overseas trip before he became Prime Minister in 1972. Labour Party leader Helen Clark rejected the president's claim, saying: "I don't believe there is any substance to rumours which have circulated now for 25 years that there was some sort of foreign involvement in Mr Kirk's death." Mrs Shipley said Kirk had been loved and respected by many New Zealanders on both sides of the political spectrum. "It's bizarre and sad that the current president of the Labour Party is making such extraordinary claims on a day when we should be remembering Norm Kirk's great contribution to New Zealand," she said. Bob Tizard, a former Labour deputy prime minister, said Kirk was a big man, weighing 170kg at one time and had an enlarged heart which was diagnosed in the 1940s. He refused to slow down on becoming prime minister and died from a progressive deterioration of his medical condition. Published in the South China Morning Post. Copyright © 1999. All rights reserved. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
