New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was accused of using the "politics of fear" Thursday to justify widely criticized plans to extend the spying powers of security services by saying New Zealanders were training with al Qaeda terrorists abroad.

Radio New Zealand reported that Key said New Zealanders who had trained in al Qaeda camps overseas were in the country and being monitored, but had not been arrested.

Key would not say how many there were or when it had taken place, but he had signed surveillance warrants for people currently in Yemen, which had al Qaeda strongholds.

The government is pushing through Parliament the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Related Legislation Amendment Bill, which would make it legal for the GCSB, the foreign intelligence agency, to monitor New Zealanders.

Leader of the main opposition Labour Party, David Shearer, said Key's comments were made without context or details and would only provoke public anxiety.

If the security agencies were monitoring threats, Key had made their job harder by alerting those people that the government was watching them, said Shearer.

The opposition Green Party said Key's comments proved the intelligence agencies were able to do their job without changes to the law.

The GCSB is forbidden to spy on New Zealand citizens and residents, but the government wants to overturn this ban after the agency was caught illegally spying on the communications of German Internet mogul Kim Dotcom.

The founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, Dotcom had his Auckland home raided by police in January last year at the behest of United States law enforcement agencies that are seeking his extradition on Internet piracy, money-laundering and racketeering charges.

A subsequent government report found the GCSB might have illegally spied on more than 80 people. Endi

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