A former MI5 officer, Mr David Shayler, has sent shock waves through the British intelligence community by naming two serving officers who allegedly conspired to assassinate the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gadafy, Luke Holland reports.
The renegade spy disclosed the names to the Observer in the hope of forcing the government to start a full inquiry into the alleged conspiracy. However, the newspaper opted not to publish the names for legal reasons.
According to the report, Mr Shayler sent a letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, last November giving him details of the plot, including the identity of the MI6 officer responsible for it. Mr Shayler alleges that the same officer claimed credit for a failed assassination attempt on Col Gadafy in 1998.
Now living in exile in Paris, Mr Shayler is currently being pursued through the civil courts by British Treasury solicitors. The London government is also seeking damages from Associated Newspapers, which first published Mr Shayler's allegations, on the grounds of "causing damage to the national interest".
He stands accused of breaking confidence and contract along with breaches of copyright law concerning documentation held by MI5 and MI6.
However, the British government's attempts to silence its former employee using the Official Secrets Act have been unsuccessful, as he is not living on British soil.
Asserting that he will use human rights law to defend himself, Mr Shayler said: "If the government wants to do battle, then I'll have to do battle."
In his campaign for an amnesty, he has also threatened to name the MI6 boss who had authority for the Gadafy operation along with his own MI5 line manager. The Foreign Office denies that British security services had anything to do with a plot to kill Col Gadafy.