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Special forces monitor dissidents Board dispute over special forces
(about 11 hours later)
The SDLP has expressed concern that Army special forces soldiers are back in Northern Ireland to help gather intelligence on dissident republicans. Northern Ireland Policing Board members are in dispute over the deployment of special forces soldiers to help gather intelligence on dissident republicans.
Special forces, such as the SAS, operated throughout the Troubles, but left after the 1997 IRA ceasefire. The SDLP and Sinn Fein said they are concerned the board was not told by the chief constable.
Members of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, which has been at the forefront of the intelligence war in Afghanistan and Iraq, have returned. But the DUP said the deployment of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment was a national security issue and not a matter for the board.
The SDLP's Dolores Kelly said using special forces raised questions. Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the regiment had no "operational role".
Members of the reconnaissance regiment have been deployedMembers of the reconnaissance regiment have been deployed
The Policing Board member said there was no doubt that there was "a level of dissident threat and it is serious, it should not be dismissed or under-estimated and it requires a full policing response". Special forces, such as the SAS, operated throughout the Troubles, but left after the 1997 IRA ceasefire.
"It was always the plan of the NIO and British Government to have the option of deploying recon units," she said. The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, which specialises in surveillance and intelligence gathering, has also been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"But units like these are the very people around whom the most serious questions arose in the past. The SDLP said the decision send the regiment to Northern Ireland "raises the issue of who is in control".
"The SDLP will be seeking an urgent meeting with the PSNI, to clarify their role in this and have already raised the matter by phone with the Irish government. We will be seeking an early meeting in Dublin." "At lunchtime on Thursday, the PSNI were telling the Policing Board the British Army would not be deployed save for bomb squad support," said a statement.
It is understood that the soldiers will not be on the streets, but will work behind the scenes. "But by teatime we learn that British Army recon units are deployed.
The regiment specialises in surveillance and intelligence gathering. "There is an immediate issue of who made this decision, when it was made and what the PSNI did not know or knew and did not tell the Policing Board."
The move is a response to growing concerns about dissident republican activity. The security services have raised the official threat level to severe - meaning they believe an attack is highly likely. Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey said it was "quite disgraceful".
It is understood that the Army has also deployed additional bomb squad officers to Northern Ireland in recent months. "We have fought hard for the kind of accountability over the police arrangements that we have at the moment," he said.
Operation Banner, the Army's role in security operations in Northern Ireland, ended almost two years ago - so the deployment of special forces - even in very small numbers - is likely to cause controversy. "I would be very concerned that those arrangements mean that the chief constable must be open, must be honest and must be accountable through organisations like the policing board, and any lapse in that will not able acceptable to ourselves."
DUP board member Ian Paisley Jr, however, said the dissident republican threat was a "national security issue, not a matter for the policing board".
"We're there to hold the police to account on operational reasons. This is a national security issue delivering to police more intelligence, more support, more help in the national security battle to ensure terrorism is defeated.
"This poses absolutely no threat to any community in Northern Ireland."
Special Reconnaissance Regiment The regiment was formed in 2005.Recruits are drawn from all three services with some posts open to women.It is based in Hereford, where the SAS also has its headquarters.It supports other special forces units and conventional forces in a variety of operations.
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said he had asked for some extra support to deal with the threats posed by a small number of what he described as "extremely dangerous people".
"We are talking of a very small number of people who increase my technical capacity," said Sir Hugh.
"They have no operational role, they support my policing operations which are undertaken by my police officers.
"So, in terms of democratic mechanisms, accountability, we have stuck absolutely rigidly to all of those which were put in place of course by the St Andrews Agreement."
On Friday morning the policing board said Sir Hugh had agreed to attend a board meeting next week to brief members on the deployment.