A New Zealand man allegedly linked to al Qaeda has denied any involvement with the terrorist group.
Mark Taylor was among 23 Australians or Australian-based people of security interest listed in a secret diplomatic cable, dated January 21 last year and published by WikiLeaks.
It was reported that he had been arrested trying to enter an al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan.
However in a statement to The New Zealand Herald last night, Mr Taylor said he has never been charged with any terrorist offence in a court of law.
"With regards to the allegations which have been made against me, I want to say only that I have at no time had any contact whatsoever with al Qaeda, the Taliban, Anwar al Awlaki or any extremist group," he said.
"Nor, to my knowledge, do I have links with any individuals who can be associated with such groups."
Mr Taylor is back in New Zealand and has been so for the past nine months.
He said he wanted to "try and get on with my life and I would appreciate the space to do that".
Prime Minister John Key says Mr Taylor is not a threat.
The cable was sent to embassies worldwide to alert them to people who have "either a historical or current association with Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, or are based in Yemen or the surrounding region and may come into contact with al-Aulaqi".
The cleric has ties to an offshoot of al Qaeda.
Yesterday, Mr Key said Mr Taylor was in New Zealand.
"For reasons that you'll appreciate, I can't go into great detail about Mark Taylor. All I can say is that he's known to us, he's someone that has quite a number of restrictions on him for very good reasons.
"I know him and his name very well."
Asked if New Zealanders had anything to fear from him, Mr Key said: "I don't believe so, no."
Mr Key, who is the minister responsible for the Security Intelligence Service, said he did not want to comment further.
The cable says Mark John Taylor (38) also went by the name Mark T. al-Rahman.
The United States embassy in Canberra recommended his name be placed on a "selectee" list for monitoring - rather than the no-fly list - because of "his demonstrated connections with al-Aulaqi".
"This recommendation is based also on his current location being Australia, where Australian [and possibly New Zealand] authorities can monitor his whereabouts and travel plans."
The no-fly list is for people who are not allowed to board flights in or out of the United States.
Those on the selectee list face additional screening and the possibility of being prevented from boarding.
In February 2009, Mr Taylor was arrested by Pakistani security forces at a paramilitary checkpoint on the outskirts of Tank town, about 280km southwest of Islamabad.
He was reportedly trying to enter an al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold on the Afghan border and Pakistani intelligence officials suspected he had links with al Qaeda and the Taliban.
