A report that British military intelligence operating with one of its agents, Mr Brian Nelson, saved the life of Mr Gerry Adams has been dismissed as "rubbish" by Sinn Fein.
Intelligence officers, acting on information from one of their agents, Mr Nelson, a UDA member, doctored bullets used in the assassination attempt on Mr Adams in Belfast in 1984, the Sun- day Times reported yesterday.
The newspaper, quoting a former British army intelligence officer, said the army was aware of a UDA murder plot against Mr Adams in March 1984, but that it allowed the operation to proceed to safeguard Mr Nelson. "The intention was to avoid Adams being killed and yet protect the cover of an important agent (Mr Nelson) working for the army within the UDA," the officer said.
The operation designed to kill Mr Adams took place after he left Belfast Magistrates court where he was appearing on an obstruction charge.
The UDA gang was arrested at the scene. According to the newspaper report the lives of Mr Adams and his colleagues were saved because members of British army intelligence doctored the bullets used in the attack.
A Sinn Fein spokesman said the claims were rubbish. "The bullets used in the attack penetrated the metal of the car, so how could anyone argue that they were doctored? Ask the surgeons who treated Gerry Adams whether they were proper bullets." The Sinn Fein spokesman said he believed that British army intelligence was feeding the story in order to create the impression that its agent, Mr Nelson, was "some sort of hero". He believed the report was tied in to the Stevens inquiry into the UDA murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane 10 years ago.
"The new Pat Finucane murder inquiry will lift the lid on a lot of killings British army undercover teams were involved in, and this report is just an attempt to create a defensible position that the army can argue," he said.
