A French secret service agent who took part in the sinking of a Greenpeace ship off the coast of New Zealand 30 years ago has apologised for his actions for the first time.
Jean-Luc Kister appeared on New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ to apologise for his role in sinking the Rainbow Warrior in July 1985, which led to the death of a Portuguese photographer on board.
He told the programme: "I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest regret” and said the death of Fernando Pereira was an "unfortunate accident".
The destruction of the vessel was "an unfair, clandestine operation conducted in an allied, friendly and peaceful country" he said. 
Jean-Luc Kister said he knew their actions were disproportinate but had to follow orders
Mr Kister was part of a 12 member team who attached two “limpet mines” to the hull of Greenpeace’s ship while it was docked in the Port of Auckland.
He said he had decided to apologise now because the act was weighing on his conscience and said they knew it was “like using boxing gloves to crush a mosquito” but they had to obey orders because they were soldiers.
The ship was on its way to protest against French nuclear testing in the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia.
Photographer Fernando Pereira drowned in the incident
Only two members of the team responsible for the attack, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, were ever convicted.
They were found guilty of manslaughter and were sentenced to 10 and seven years each but only served two years on a base on the French Polynesian island of Hao after a UN negotiation.
