Stakeknife, the British Army double agent who operated within the IRA and to whom multiple murders are now attributed

Efe London

London

Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-14:09

A double agent of the British Army who operated within the

IRA

(Irish Republican Army) at the time of the conflicts in the province has been linked to "multiple murders", according to a report released this Friday, which indicates that his operations probably cost more lives of those he saved.

The so-called 'Operation Kenova', which for seven years has investigated the double agent known as 'Stakeknife' - who died last year, at the age of 77 -, indicates that the rumors that maintained that the spy - who carried out his activity in the IRA's internal security unit - had saved hundreds of lives were "wrong".

'Stakeknife' is the alias assigned to a prominent former member of the IRA who worked as a double agent for the British intelligence services and who local media identified at the time as

Freddie Scappaticci

, a well-known republican from west Belfast who has always denied these accusations. accusations.

The document released today also found that the British security forces did not prevent crimes from being committed to protect their agents within the IRA. The independent investigation, which has cost 40 million pounds (46 million euros), links the aforementioned agent with at least 14 murders and 15 kidnapping incidents.

Although the investigation does not officially confirm the identity of 'Staekknife' as Scappaticci, it does indicate that this "was undoubtedly a valuable asset" to the security forces who "provided high quality confidential information on the Provisional IRA with a considerable risk towards itself".

The author of the 208-page report, Jon Boutcher, who is now chief of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), regretted today at a press conference in Belfast that those who committed crimes had not been brought to justice.

"The morality and legality of agents who committed any type of damage with the knowledge of the State is something that we would never allow today," he said.

He also added that the identity of the spy has been exposed during the Kenova operation, but is "subject to confidentiality", so he explained that he cannot "make his name public without there being an official authority."

Boutcher said speculation that the agent had saved hundreds of lives was based on "unreliable and speculative" assessments.

Scappaticci is believed to have fled to Italy when he left Northern Ireland, having been identified by the media as Stakeknife in 2003.

That same year, a report prepared by the

former chief of the London Metropolitan Police

John Stevens, after 14 years of investigations, considered the collaboration of law enforcement forces with Protestant paramilitaries to kill Catholics in the 1980s proven.

In this context of the so-called "Dirty War" in Northern Ireland, the alleged victims of Stakeknife, who led an IRA unit in charge of discovering moles, claim that the security forces let him commit crimes to gain the trust of his superiors. in the terrorist gang and keep his status as a double agent hidden.