WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand newspaper group is reporting that the deadly February earthquake in Christchurch unearthed a suspected Israeli spy ring.
Three Israelis died in the quake that killed 181 people. Other Israelis escaped the quake.
The Fairfax newspaper group, which didn't state how it obtained the information, said one of the Israelis who died was carrying at least five passports.
Fairfax said New Zealand Prime Minister John Key took four calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the quake, and that an unaccredited Israeli search and rescue squad searching a cordoned area inChristchurch was stopped by New Zealand officers.
Key, who is traveling in California, told media Wednesday that it wasn't in the national interest to comment about the report.
