The case attracted considerable media and political attention. The New Zealand Government defended the treatment of Zaoui, and maintained they had information that he was a credible risk. In September 2004, Prime Minister Helen Clark's office stated that Zaoui had links to al Qaeda, but Clark later withdrew the claim, saying that her "office had probably gone too far in making the link". The New Zealand First Party attacked Mr Zaoui's claim to asylum, while the Greens challenged the processes that saw him imprisoned and at risk of deportation.