New IRA ‘top priority’ for MI5 in Northern Ireland
A terrorism trial in Northern Ireland continues to shed light on the secret war between the British Security Service (MI5) and militant Irish Republican groups, notably the New IRA organization.
Eight men and two women are currently in custody accused of a total of 39 terrorism-related offences, including directing terrorism and trying to obtain Semtex explosives.
They were arrested in August after MI5 bugged two alleged meetings of the New IRA executive in February and July as part of Operation Arbacia.
Amongst the group is a Scotland-based Palestinian doctor, Issam Bassalat, who claims he is a victim of a “dirty squabble” between MI5 and so-called dissident Republicans.
MI5 is keen to depict Operation Arbacia as a major blow to the New IRA and to that end it has gone to the unusual length of feeding selective information and insights to the media.
A “senior” MI5 source in Northern Ireland has told the BBC the New IRA is a “top priority” for the Security Service.
Meanwhile, another “senior” source, this time in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has told the BBC that the “top priority” for security agencies is to see how the New IRA “reorganizes and restructures” following this summer’s setback.
According to MI5 and PSNI “sources” – as relayed by the BBC - the New IRA has 500 supporters of whom less than 100 are prepared to “plan and carry out attacks” against British state targets.
MI5 reportedly has up to 700 staff in Northern Ireland based at regional headquarters in Holywood, County Down.
The Security Service took over the lead role in intelligence gathering on so-called dissident Republicans from the police in 2007.
The MI5 unit in Northern Ireland primarily mounts surveillance against militant Republican groups, in addition to recruiting and managing covert human sources, popularly known as agents.
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