Stakeknife

"Stakeknife" [cite news
last =
first =
title = Focus: Scappaticci's past is secret no more
pages =
publisher = The Times
date = 2003-05-18
url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-683795,00.html
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ] is the code name of a spy who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), at a high level, as an agent working for the top secret British Force Research Unit (FRU). Reports claim that "Stakeknife" has been working for the British for 25 years. [cite news
last =
first =
title = He did the IRA's dirty work for 25 years - and was paid £80,000 a year by the government
pages =
publisher = The Guardian
date = 2003-05-12
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,953842,00.html
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

"Stakeknife" had his own dedicated handlers and agents and it was suggested that he was important enough that MI5 set up an office dedicated solely to him. Rumours suggested that he was being paid at least £80,000 a year and had a bank account in Gibraltar. [cite news
last =
first =
title = Why this man is STAKEKNIFE INVESTIGATION
pages =
publisher = The Sunday Herald
date = 2003-05-18
url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20030518/ai_n12582563
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

Serious allegations have emerged to the effect that the British government allowed up to forty people to be killed via the IRA's Internal Security Unit or "Nutting Squad" to protect his cover. [cite news
last =
first =
title = Murder fear after naming of IRA spy
pages =
publisher = The Telegraph
date = 2003-05-12
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/12/nife12.xml
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

On May 11, 2003, several newspapers named Freddie Scappaticci as "Stakeknife". Scappaticci denied the claims and launched an unsuccessful legal action to have the British government state he was not their agent. [cite news
last =
first =
title = 'Stakeknife' loses bid to quash spy claim
pages =
publisher = The Guardian
date = 2003-08-19
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1021579,00.html
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ] He later left Northern Ireland and was rumoured to be living in Cassino, Italy. There were also reported sightings in Tenerife. [cite news
last =
first =
title = British spy hunted by IRA flees refuge
pages =
publisher = The Independent
date = 2006-04-09
url = http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/ulster/article356668.ece
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

A report in a February 2007 edition of the Belfast News Letter reported that a cassette recording allegedly of Scappaticci talking about the number of murders he was involved in via the "Nutting Squad", as well as his work as an Army agent, had been lodged with the PSNI in 2004 and subsequently passed to the Stevens Inquiry in 2005. [cite news
last =
first =
title = Stakeknife tape emerges after News Letter probe
pages =
publisher = Belfast Today
date = 2007-02-05
url = http://www.belfasttoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3425&ArticleID=2023120
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

The former British Intelligence agent who worked in the FRU known as "Martin Ingram" has written a book titled "Stakeknife" since the original allegations came to light in which he accuses Scappaticci of being the agent in question.

References

Further reading

* Greg Harkin and Martin Ingram (2004), "Stakeknife: Britain's secret agents in Ireland", O'Brien Press
* [http://www.birw.org/Stakeknife.html British Irish Rights Watch Report]