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| Down Under |
| Australian man quizzed over spying for Vietnam |
| 2005-04-20 |
| A NORTHERN Territory man is being investigated by ASIO for allegedly spying for Vietnam. Ian Nancarrow, 39, is a helicopter maintenance supervisor for the army in Darwin. ASIO and the Defence Security Authority have accused him of selling military secrets to the Government in Hanoi, the latest edition of The Bulletin magazine reports. Mr Nancarrow says he is being victimised because he blew the whistle on soldiers who were falsifying chopper safety reports. He said he fixed engines and had no access to weapons or electronics. Mr Nancarrow works for the Queensland-based company Helitech. His job is to sign off on the work carried out by army trainees who maintain the nine military Bell Jet Ranger 206B-1 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters that are stationed in Darwin. Mr Nancarrow, of Berry Springs, 30km south of Darwin, is married to a Vietnamese woman and has visited Vietnam nine times. He told The Bulletin he was investigated by ASIO after complaining that young soldiers had forged his signature to sign off his approval in their work journals. He said it was easier for the military to expel an outside contractor than court-martial its own men. Mr Nancarrow said he was first interviewed by two intelligence officers at RAAF Base Darwin and was accused of being paid to work for the Vietnamese. When he was called in for a second interview, he took his union organiser, Joe Gallagher, with him. "They were secretive," Mr Gallagher told The Bulletin journalist Paul Toohey. "We are concerned our member put in a complaint that his signature has been forged. Instead of investigating the complaint, they've investigated the civilian." Mr Nancarrow has taken about 50 army men on holiday to Vietnam in the past few years. He admitted he had been accused of running a mail-order bride service. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |