Ahmed Zaoui was born as one of ten children in El Idrissia, in Djelfa Wilaya, Algeria, and was the son of a Sunni Muslim imam.
His family moved to the town of Médéa when he was young, and after completing high school, he enrolled in Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between the years of 1980 and 1985, gaining a Bachelor of Arts.
However, the government cancelled 1991 elections after the first round results showed that the FIS would win, citing fears that the Islamist party would end democracy.
[7] While still under a Belgian home detention order which limited his movements to the street he lived on, he travelled illegally to Switzerland.
Zaoui believed that this was a pretext, that the real reason was his presence in Malaysia, and that the Malaysian authorities were preparing to detain him.
[9] He decided to leave Malaysia, and on 2 December 2002 he arrived in New Zealand via Vietnam on a fake South African passport.
En route to New Zealand, Zaoui attempted to destroy his fake South African passport, and upon arrival, applied for refugee status.
Although he was recognised as having a well founded fear of persecution, he was excluded as the RSB held there was reason to believe he had committed serious criminal or terrorist activities, primarily on evidence given by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and on his conviction in Belgium.
However, in October 2003 his case was reviewed, and citing the "likely length of time before legal proceedings conclude", the Department of Corrections transferred him to the medium security Auckland Remand Prison where he was placed on a ‘normal association regime".
Commenting on the information available to them in order to evaluate Zaoui's claim, the RSAA stated that they "...were surprised at how limited it was and the questionable nature of some of the contents" and that "...it does not provide evidence that he has committed, directed or participated in any act of violence or terrorism that would require his being excluded under Article 1F from the protection of the Refugee Convention.
[14] 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.
Zaoui was "thrilled and delighted," and stated that he was "...happy not just because my name has been cleared but because the whole system of security risk certificates can now be reviewed.
"[3] On 29 September 2005 a referendum was held in Algeria which resulted in the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, and gave amnesty to those jailed and convicted during the civil war,[16] and critics have maintained that he is free to return safely.
[17][18] A previous application for them to come to New Zealand was lodged in late 2006, but at that time, Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said it would not be appropriate while the status of Zaoui's security risk certificate was being determined.