Sunday, 1 January, 2006

Republicans accuse British of false ‘informer’ leaks

By Colm Heatley, Sunday Business Post

Republicans have accused the British Intelligence Services of trying to subvert the peace process and causing dissension within republican ranks by leaking the names of alleged "informers".

Since the unmasking of senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson as a British agent a fortnight ago, five republicans in west Belfast have been told by the media they are to be “outed'‘.

However, Sinn Féin and senior republicans have claimed that the allegations are completely untrue and insist they regard the latest wave of claims as “a deliberate ploy by British securocrats to undermine the republican movement'‘. In one instance the media camped outside the home of one west Belfast republican whose name had been circulating in the North as a possible informer.

“This is complete fantasy stuff on the part of British Intelligence, they are putting people's names into the public arena in the hope that republicans will react,” said a senior republican source.

“What it shows is the need for Tony Blair to rein in his securocrats who are clearly trying to undermine the peace process. They want to spread paranoia and fear amongst the republican community as a follow-up to the Donaldson affair.

“That simply won't happen, republicans have been here before and are treating these developments as a black propaganda campaign.”

In the months following the unmasking of Freddie Scappaticci as the informer “Stakeknife'‘ in 2003, the media named two other republicans as long-term British agents.

The claims were subsequently shown to be untrue, but the tension was heightened in an already paranoid republican community.

Although republicans have put across a united front in the face of the latest claims, there is little doubt that suspicion has increased.

In recent days there has been a marked increase in patrols by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in the tightly-knit communities of west Belfast and republicans claim that well-known Special Branch members have been seen in the district.

So far, west Belfast, the political heartland of Sinn Féin, has borne the brunt of the allegations.

“Every time a [police] Land Rover stops outside someone's house people are wondering what it means. There is no doubt the PSNI and the spooks are trying to make the most of the situation,” said one republican.

Republicans are also anxious that should any ‘informers' leave Belfast it will be interpreted as evidence that the IRA is still active and used against them in the crucial report on IRA activity by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), which is due to be released next month.

Sinn Féin has said the peace process cannot be sidetracked by the Donaldson affair. However, it will make the party's task of selling a deal on policing to grassroots republicans more difficult.

Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty, said the Stormontgate affair had highlighted the issue of “political policing'‘.

“People throughout this island and beyond are now talking about political policing and the dangers it poses to the peace process and the task of rebuilding the political process early in the new year,” he said.

“Instead of trying to defend the indefensible, it would suit the policing establishment better if they got their house in order.

“They now have a big job of work to try and convince nationalists and republicans that they are capable of operating in an accountable and acceptable fashion.”

It emerged last week that Donaldson had been talking to republicans about his work as a British informer over a period of more than 20 years.

At that stage he was still in Ireland, but it is unclear if he has since left the country.

Although Donaldson's unmasking was deeply embarrassing to republicans, it also compromised British intelligence.

His role has highlighted the influence of Special Branch and MI5 in the peace process and increased the pressure on the British government to curb the powers of its agents.