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  • New Zealand Listener

    MISGUIDED MISSILES

    Apr 10, 2022 7 minutes
    story and photograph by RICHARD WOODD

    If James Jones is to be believed, German intelligence operatives once tried to kill him. He claims to be a former rocket scientist who has been living in New Zealand under a new identity for 24 years.

    He says he fled Germany because he feared for his life, after exposing what he believes was the illegal sale of military rocket technology to Iraq. He is writing a book about it.

    He agreed to speak to the Listener because he wants to get his past off his chest. He also believes his homeland has a responsibility to own up to its betrayal. For various reasons, we have been unable to independently verify his claims. So here is his story. One day, it may appear in an even more detailed form.

    Jones, 66, says he was born in Düsseldorf in 1955, as Gerhard Holger Duennebeil. These days, he lives in a modest house at Paraparaumu, where he has retired. He plays bridge and croquet and goes ballroom dancing with a friend. For a while, he owned a lawn mowing business, but eventually found it too physically demanding.

    Before lawn mowing, he worked in various IT jobs. But before that, he was

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