Wellington - New Zealand police issued a stern warning on Friday to Auckland University students who offered 5,000 New Zealand dollars (about 3,700 US dollars) for a citizen's arrest of United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a war criminal during her two-day visit this weekend.

Rice was due to arrive Friday night for talks with Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Winston Peters before travelling to Samoa Sunday for a meeting with regional ministers.

The Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA) offered the reward for Rice's arrest for "her role in overseeing the illegal invasion and continued occupation of Iraq."

Auckland Police Superintendent Brett England issued a statement warning the consequences of a security threat to Rice "could be very serious indeed."

He said that operational planning for the visit had been in the making for several months and highly effective security measures were in place.

"So I would strongly advise the association representatives who've put this challenge out to withdraw it immediately so as to avoid being caught up in something much bigger than they may have anticipated," the police chief said.

AUSA President David Do said earlier that the students were also asking police to arrest Rice for breaching two New Zealand laws, the Geneva Conventions Act 1958 and the Crimes of Torture Act 1989, by authorizing the torture of suspected terrorists (dpa)