United Kingdom: a report expected in the context of the Northern Irish conflict

2024-03-07T22:55:45.015Z

Highlights: A report expected this Friday March 8 could reveal the identity of a double agent within the IRA, the republican paramilitaries. At the center of the investigation, a name: “Stakeknife” This supposed spy for the British services is said to have infiltrated the Irish Republican Army, right up to the top of the hierarchy. British espionage would have covered up his actions – torture, kidnappings in addition to assassinations – in order not to compromise him and to continue to glean information about the IRA.

Twenty-six years after the peace agreement, Northern Ireland continues to learn the lessons of the civil war. A report expected this Friday March 8 could reveal the identity of a double agent within…

United Kingdom: a report expected in the context of the Northern Irish conflict

Twenty-six years after the peace agreement, Northern Ireland continues to learn the lessons of the civil war.

A report expected this Friday March 8 could reveal the identity of a double agent within the IRA, the republican paramilitaries.

Tourists at the “Peace Walls” that still separate some nationalist and unionist neighborhoods in west Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April 2023. © AP/Peter Morrison

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in London,

Émeline Vin

Did the

Northern Irish

police cover up 18 murders committed by the Irish Republican Army, the IRA, in order to protect a double agent serving the British army?

This is the question that Operation Kenova, launched in 2016, must answer.

The “Troubles” lasted thirty years in this

British

nation .

They pitted republican Catholics, for the reunification of Ireland, against unionist Protestants, in favor of remaining in the United Kingdom.

At the center of the investigation, a name: “Stakeknife”.

This supposed spy for the British services is said to have infiltrated the Irish Republican Army, right up to the top of the hierarchy.

British espionage would have covered up his actions – torture, kidnappings in addition to assassinations – in order not to compromise him and to continue to glean information about the IRA.

Operation Kenova, particularly criticized for its cost

The press identified “Stakeknife” as Fred Scappaticci in 2003. The former paramilitary, now deceased, always denied it.

This Friday's report is only a milestone for Operation Kenova, criticized for its cost and lack of effectiveness.

No one has yet been prosecuted, eight years after its launch.

Confirmation of the allegations of cover-up crimes would seriously damage the reputation of the British army, already accused of numerous abuses during the “Troubles”.

United Kingdom: a report expected in the context of the Northern Irish conflict

United Kingdom: a report expected in the context of the Northern Irish conflict

Operation Kenova, particularly criticized for its cost

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