"The United Kingdom's domestic intelligence agency MI5 protected an IRA double agent who committed murders during Northern Ireland's Troubles and later avoided prosecution, a major investigation has found. The findings are from Operation Kenova, a nearly decade-long police probe into Stakeknife the codename for a senior IRA figure who also worked as an informant for British security services."
"Stakeknife led the IRA's internal security unit, which abducted, interrogated and killed people suspected of informing while secretly passing intelligence to the British. Investigators said MI5 allowed the agent to continue committing serious crimes, blaming a perverse sense of loyalty that meant he was never held to account. The report said MI5 even twice removed the agent from Northern Ireland on holidays despite knowing he was wanted by police for conspiracy to murder and false imprisonment."
"Stakeknife has never been formally identified, but he is widely believed to have been Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci. He has been linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions. Scappaticci died in 2023. He admitted being in the IRA but denied working for British intelligence. Operation Kenova also criticised MI5 for delaying the release of key documents, saying several incidents could be seen as attempts to restrict the investigation, run down the clock, avoid any prosecutions and conceal the truth."
Operation Kenova concluded that MI5 protected a senior IRA double agent who committed murders while supplying intelligence to British security services. The agent, codenamed Stakeknife, led the IRA's internal security unit that abducted, interrogated, and killed people suspected of informing. MI5 repeatedly removed the agent from Northern Ireland despite outstanding police warrants and delayed disclosure of key documents. The agent is widely believed to be Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions; he died in 2023. MI5's director general apologised and offered sympathies to victims and their families.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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