British agents conducted illegal, secret war on IRA
By David McKittrick, Ireland Correspondent
Friday, 18 April 2003
An intelligence community that saw itself as above the law and free to indulge
in extensive illegality, not excluding murder, was depicted yesterday in a
damning report by Britain's most senior policeman.
An intelligence community that saw itself as above the law and free to indulge in extensive illegality, not excluding murder, was depicted yesterday in a damning report by Britain's most senior policeman.
Files on 26 Northern Ireland murders were examined by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, as part of his inquiry into collusion between intelligence agencies and loyalist killer gangs.
He concluded that, in an undercover war against the IRA which had literally no rules, some intelligence officers would stop at almost nothing. A number of officers have been reported to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In at least two cases – including that of the murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane – intelligence officers allowed people to die, Sir John concluded in a report which amounts to the most damning ever indictment of the security forces.
The Northern Ireland Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, who as a Metropolitan Police officer helped draw up the report, last night argued he was in charge of a new force in a new era, saying: "This is a very different organisation." But a public inquiry now looks inevitable in the wake of accusations from Sir John that intelligence personnel had failed to prevent killings and failed to bring prosecutions.
He also claimed intelligence elements had set fire to his own office, further claiming that the Army and MoD had systematically blocked his efforts to get to sensitive documents.
Sir John released only a 3,000-word statement yesterday, summarising the state of his inquiries, which are not yet over. But his criticisms were still a heavy blow against the intelligence underworld.
The Finucane family and others continued to press for a public inquiry
yesterday, the Irish government saying the Stevens findings were of the utmost
gravity, "raising fundamental questions about the involvement of agents of the
state in a range of unlawful and criminal activity including collusion,
obstructing justice and murder."
The Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, said the results of the
investigation would be vigorously pursued, adding: "Sir John's report raises
very disturbing issues. The fact that the events at the core of the
investigations date back to the 1980s does not diminish their seriousness."
Almost 10,400 documents running to more than one million pages and weighing over
four tons were examined by the Stevens team. More than 16,000 exhibits have been
assembled, with 144 arrests and 94 convictions. The report made 21
recommendations for new procedures and safeguards. The Special Branch has
already undergone extensive changes since Mr Orde took over, in the light of
previous critical reports.
Nationalists and republicans last night claimed collusion was not the work of rogue elements but was official government policy.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan, describing the report as alarming, said: "We believe the murder of Pat Finucane was state-sponsored and sanctioned. Any police officers guilty of criminality have to be rigorously pursued."