David Lange says US threatened to kill him.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1549077,00.html

David Lange has died of kidney failure aged 63.

He was prime minister of the fourth Labour government from 1984 to 1989.

He promoted the idea of New Zealand having a nuclear-free policy.

This led to a 'coolness' in the relationship with the United States.

New Zealand has remained nuclear free.

In 2002, Lange was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare, incurable blood plasma disorder

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http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/03/28/nz.lange/

March 28, 2002

Former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange has claimed that ex-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle threatened to have him "liquidated" over his country's anti-nuclear policy in the 1980s.
The extraordinary allegation was first made in an interview with New Zealand's One News...

In the One News interview Lange said the apparent death threat was made by Quayle during a meeting with the Australian cabinet...

"There were veiled threats and there were specific threats," he said. "It was announced at one stage to the Australian cabinet that I would have to be liquidated."

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"Lange says US threatened to kill him."

That was the story from New Zealand's Independent newspapers Ltd on 27 March 2002.

Former US vice-president Dan Quayle reportedly told the Australian Cabinet that David Lange, New Zealand Prime Minister from 1984-89, "would have to be liquidated."

Mr Lange made the claim in a television interview about the pressure put on him over New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance during his time as prime minister.

"There were personal pressures," he said. "There were veiled threats. There were specific threats. There were threats made to other countries. (It) was announced to the Australian Cabinet at one stage that I would have to be liquidated."

He said the announcement had been made by Mr Quayle during a visit to Australia in 1989. Asked to repeat what Mr Quayle said, Mr Lange said: "I'd have to be liquidated."

Former New Zealand Labour Party president Bob Harvey suggested in 1999 that prime minister Norman Kirk had been poisoned by the CIA in 1974.

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