Sinn Féin's administration chief at Stormont headed the IRA's intelligence unit, establishing links with ETA, the PLO and other terrorist groups, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Denis Donaldson (52) was also invited to the wedding of a chef wanted for questioning in connection with the seizure of informants' files during a raid on Special Branch offices in Belfast earlier this year, it was claimed.
A senior detective opposing a bail application by Mr Donaldson told the Northern Ireland High Court that police feared he would continue spying for the IRA if he was freed.
Supt Roy Suitters said: "There is a serious risk he may not turn up for trial. He has travelled widely throughout the world establishing links with other groups and organisations."
But Mr Seamus Treacey QC, defending, insisted there was no evidence linking his client to a terror network.
Mr Donaldson, of Aitnamona Crescent, west Belfast, was one of four people arrested last month by police investigating an alleged IRA espionage plot inside the government's main buildings at Stormont.
A rucksack discovered at Mr Donaldson's home contained 1,218 pages of documentation, with about 700 believed to have come from the Northern Ireland Office, the court heard.
Among the papers recovered were top-secret letters to and from the British Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Taoiseach, the UK Ministry of Defence, the Police Ombudsman and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
One also related to Colombia, where three men are due to stand trial early next month accused of training FARC guerrillas.
The detective told the court that Mr Donaldson was among a group of no more than six people with access to classified documents still believed to be missing. Supt Suitters said Special Branch had briefed him that he was a senior member of the IRA's intelligence wing.
A crown lawyer said Mr Donaldson was sentenced to 10 years in February 1972 after being found guilty of a plot to bomb a distillery and government buildings.
During the 1980s, it was alleged, the Sinn Féin administrator toured Europe giving talks on the IRA's hunger strike campaign. In August 1981, he was arrested in Paris after arriving from Beirut on a false passport, the lawyer said.
Claiming Mr Donaldson had forged close links with other terrorists, he added: "He has connections with groups and organisations in Madrid, Beirut, El Salvador and Italy."
The court was told of Mr Donaldson's alleged links to a man wanted in connection with the break-in at Castlereagh police complex on March 17th this year.
An application seeking the extradition of Mr Larry Zaitschek, a former chef at the barracks, from the US is with the DPP. It was claimed an invitation to Mr Zaitschek's wedding and a photo of Mr Donaldson with the cook were found by police during searches of the man's home.
Mr Donaldson faces five charges of possessing documents likely to be of use to terrorists. He is accused to having papers containing details about Lieut Gen Sir Alistair Irwin, a sketch of Castle Buildings, Stormont, and details on loyalists and a serving police officer. He said he was not guilty when charged with the offences.
Mr Treacey questioned the evidence against Mr Donaldson after it was confirmed his fingerprints have not yet been found on any of the documents seized by police.
He also challenged the detective's assessment that the PLO was a terror organisation and called on him to name the groups his client was allegedly linked to in Madrid and El Salvador.
The bail application hearing was adjourned until today. - (PA)