The Sunday Herald
Sun 03-Dec-2000
By Neil Mackay
THE Sunday Herald's probe into the activities of an undercover British army intelligence unit in Northern Ireland triggered legal moves by the Ministry of Defence last week to gag the newspaper from making further revelations about covert military operations in Ulster.
The MoD began the process of interdicting the Sunday Herald on Friday when it learned of the contents of the third part of our investigations into the role of the secretive Force Research Unit (FRU) in Ulster.
The FRU is under investigation by Scotland Yard's commissioner, Sir John Stevens, over allegations that it colluded with loyalist terrorists in the murders of civilians. The attempt to silence the Sunday Herald focused on the newspaper's investigations into the role of a female intelligence officer - known as Captain M - who is at the centre of the inquiry.
The MoD has already gagged the Sunday People and the Sunday Times in Northern Ireland for attempting investigations similar to the Sunday Herald's.
The interdict would also have prevented all future investigations by the Sunday Herald into the FRU. We have had to give an undertaking to MoD solicitors not to publish her name, reveal her location or identify her by photograph. But as a result the Sunday Herald is now the only paper able to fully probe the activities of the FRU.