On July 10th 1985 the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior was sunk in Auckland Harvour, New Zealand under the codename Operation Satanic. It remains one of the most audacious examples of terrorism undertaken by a Government (in that the true story emerged, not the cover story!). The vessel was destroyed by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), a part of the French Foreign Intelligence Service just before it was due to sail to Moruroa in the Pacific, which the French were using to undertake nuclear tests.
One person died, a photographer called Fernando Pereira. Initially the French denied involvement, calling the bombing a terrorist act (sound familiar?!), but were later forced to admit involvement when two of their agents were arrested in New Zealand. It was revealed 20 years later that French President François Mitterrand was personally involved. At the time, French Defence Minister Charles Hernu resigned.
The agents arrested were sent to serve a sentence of 10 years, initially in New Zealand and then on a Pacific Island. Unbelievably both were free a few years later, one because he went to France for medical treatment and the French promptly released him and the second agent because she fell pregnant and returned to France (he husband having been allowed to visit her in jail!) She was later promoted.
This caused an absolute stink in 1985, and would have been much more serious had New Zealand not been the unfortunate location. It also occured 3 days before Live Aid and I wonder whether this took some of the heat out of the matter. The French had to pay huge reparations to New Zealand, supposedly an ally.
Greenpeace had their day though, as all French tests in the region were halted (until 1995) and a huge flotilla of ships from New Zealand sailed to Moruroa in protest at the sinking. It also strenthened the Nuclear-free status in New Zealand, which is a very popular issue there even now. The Uk and US governments failed to condemn the attack and this has continued to result in relations between New Zealand and these countries as being not altogether friendly.
