No white supremacists on terrorist list

A list of Designated Terrorist Entities, published by New Zealand police a week after the Christchurch terror attacks, is almost exclusively populated by Al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked individuals and organisations.

Not one right-wing extremist or white supremacist is included on the list.

The United Nations' register of terrorists includes 1962 people and 455 groups, and means if anyone on the list enters the country, they would be arrested under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

But a security expert told RNZ having no right-wing threats on the list is a serious omission.

Security analyst Paul Buchanan told RNZ intelligence agencies have been focused on Islamic extremists for too long.

"Unfortunately with the obsession with Islamists, it seems that Western intelligence agencies, to include those in New Zealand, simply discounted or were unaware of the degree to which white extremists have copied Al Qaeda and ISIS' playbook when it comes to recruitment and the planning of events."

Buchanan refers to the internet, where supremacists can become radicalised in internet "echo-chambers".

He believes white extremist groups will soon be added to the list.

Newshub.