sitting atop a full-length Air Max 360 unit

The case raises questions about New Zealand's security intelligence and border control mechanisms.

Mr Cunliffe said Ali's true identity became apparent only after he arrived in New Zealand "he used a variation of his name in applying for entry".

But the Weekend Herald has been told the only variation on his passport was the use of the initial A for Abdullah, and that was corrected in a note inside the passport.

The minister referred the Weekend Herald to excerpts from the US Government's 911 Commission Report on the attacks regarding "Rayed Abdullah".

The report says Abdullah lived and trained in Phoenix with Hani Hanjour, the Saudi Arabian believed to have piloted Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Abdullah was a leader at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Phoenix where, the FBI says, he "reportedly gave extremist speeches at the mosque".

A website sourced to the 911 report says Abdullah attended the same Phoenix flight school as Hanjour and the pair used a flight simulator together on June 23, 2001.

A 2004 report in the Arizona Daily Star names him as Rayed Mohammed Abdullah. But the Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali who wandered into the Manawatu Aero Club in March gave no suggestion of fundamentalism.

The short, cleancut Muslim told the club's chief flying officer, Captain Ravindra Singh, he had obtained his private pilot's licence in the US and spent several years there before returning to Saudi Arabia to work in his father's textile business.

He wanted to pass the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam so he could return home to train for his commercial pilot's licence.

He wore a baseball cap, smart shirts and baggy trousers and favoured burgers over halal food.

Captain Singh, a former Indian Air Force officer trained in intelligence, says Ali had a Yemeni passport and he was naturally suspicious at first.

"At the time of September 11 he would have been in the US. I asked him some very direct questions about his US flying experience and found he was quite intelligent and a moderate person. He was not at all fundamentalist he was against those people."

He and other instructors accompanied Ali on several flights in a Cessna 152 aircraft.

"I found his standard to be very good," Captain Singh said.

"He wanted to fly in Saudi Arabia or the [Arab] Emirates and was doing instrument training in the US before September 11 but said that since then everyone had treated him suspiciously. I'm 99 per cent sure he was genuine."

Ali told Captain Singh he was born and raised in Saudi A rabia but travelled on a Yemeni passport because his father was from Yemen and Saudi Arabia had refused to give him citizenship.

lives.10 ways to curb your debit card habit

Nine out of ten Canadians have a debit card in their wallet. And with more than 55,000 automated bank machines across the country, that means there a lot of access to cash.

According to Interac, half of Canadians say debit is their favourite way to buy things and more than a third visit an ABM more than once a week.

While it convenient, this easy access can also be a temptation, especially for those trying to keep spending under control. When you using your card at a store you don see your new balance, making it harder to keep your budget in check. Frequent debits also mean potentially higher fees and that can add up quickly.

Here are 10 things you can do to curb your debit card use and keep costs to a minimum.

Taking a lump sum of cash out at the beginning of the week will help keep your spending in check. But before you do that, honestly calculate how much you need. If you are under budgeting you are mostly likely to go back to the bank machine and may be tempted to take out more than you need and incur extra fees.

Don double spend by using your credit card