MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-12-18 |
| FROM | Billy
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Tale of Espionage Marks a'Bizarre' Turn in
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mlr52-at-michaellrichardson.com wrote:
> The formating jas changed.
. ^ ^
Okay, did you read THIS before posting it?
You're saying your mail client showed you
a 'compose' preview of this message in which
it looked FINE, and then it was transformed
into nonsense after you sent it. Right?
Let me know what client this is so I can avoid
it.
dig dig dig....
> X-Mailer: VersaMail(c) 1998-2004 3.0C, palmOne, Inc.
Ugh!!! You are totally excused.. sorry for the trouble.
Worst. MUA. Ever.
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Billy
> Subj: Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Tale of Espionage Marks a'Bizarre' Turn in N. Ireland
> Date: Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:06 am
> Size: 6K
> To: hangout-at-mrbrklyn.com
>
>
> Did you try to read this before you posted it?
> It's illegible.
>
>
> mlr52-at-michaellrichardson.com wrote:
>
>>WashintonPost.com
>>
>> Tale of Espionage Marks a'Bizarre' Turn in N. Ireland
>>
>> By Kevin Sullivan
>>
>> LONDON, Dec. 17 -- For aquarter-century, Denis Donaldsonmoved among
>> the elite of NorthernIreland's republican movement.A small man with
>> glasses and thinninghair, he looked more like abureaucrat than a
>> guerrilla fighter.But his revolutionary credentialswere impeccable,
>> starting with a1971 conviction for plotting to blowup British
>> government buildings anda four-year stint in the infamousMaze
>> prison. A photo from that timeshows him in the prison with his
>> armdraped over the shoulder ofcellmate Bobby Sands, the
>> IrishRepublican Army icon who died on ahunger strike in 1981.Then,
>> Friday night, Donaldsonrevealed his secret: For two decades,he had
>> been a British spy.Donaldson's announcement hasroiled Northern
>> Ireland's fragilepolitical world, where mistrustbetween Protestants
>> and Catholicsstill runs high despite the IRA'sannouncement last
>> summer that itwas permanently ending its armedcampaign. Politicians
>> from all sidesare demanding official inquiries intoone of the
>> province's mosts
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> en!
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>> sational cases of espionage sincethe beginning of the
>> sectarianviolence known as the Troubles, athree-decade war that
>> cost morethan 3,600 lives."People are just gobsmacked," saidTim Pat
>> Coogan, an Irish historianand author of a history of the IRA.Even
>> Irish Prime Minister BertieAhern, who said he would seek
>> aninvestigation, called the situation "asbizarre as it gets."A
>> spokesman for British PrimeMinister Tony Blair said Saturdaythat
>> Blair would have "no commentwhatsoever" on the case.Donaldson, 55,
>> had emerged fromMaze prison as a rising republicanstar. He
>> eventually became a topofficial in Sinn Fein, the IRA's
>> politicalwing, where he was a confidant ofparty leader Gerry Adams
>> andrepresented the party onfundraising trips to the UnitedStates.
>> And for much of that time,Donaldson admitted Friday, he wasbeing
>> paid by the Britishgovernment to inform on hiscolleagues."I deeply
>> regret my activities withBritish intelligence," he said in
>> astatement broadcast on television.Apologiz
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> in!
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>> g to his "formercomrades" and his family in a calmvoice, he sa! id
>> he "w
>>
>> as recruited inthe 1980s after compromisingmyself during a
>> vulnerable time inmy life." He did not elaborate, and itremains
>> unclear how the Britishgovernment was able to recruit him.Martin
>> McGuinness, deputy leaderof Sinn Fein, told BBC Radio Ulster
>> onSaturday that the disclosure showedthat, despite the IRA's
>> disarmament,British security forces were stilltrying to undermine
>> the landmark1998 Good Friday peace accord. Thatplan calls for a
>> power-sharingagreement between NorthernIreland's Catholic
>> republicans, whowant to see Northern Irelandreunited with the
>> Republic of Ireland,and Protestant unionists, whosupport British
>> rule in the province."We are all disappointed,"McGuinness said,
>> calling it "yetanother episode of the dirty war ofBritish security
>> services."David Ervine, a prominentProtestant leader from
>> theProgressive Unionist Party, said hewas "deeply confused" by
>> theDonaldson case."Every time you think you've gotNorthern Ireland
>> figured out,something else happens," he sai
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> d !
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>> in atelephone interview.Donaldson's statement Friday wasthe latest
>> twist in a puzzling,three-year drama.It began in October 2002,
>> whenpolice raided Sinn Fein's office atStormont, the seat of the
>> NorthernIreland Assembly. They seized stolengovernment documents
>> andarrested Donaldson, who ran theoffice, and two others and
>> chargedthem with running a republican spyring. Sinn Fein denied the
>> allegations.Ten days after Donaldson's arrest,Unionist
>> representatives walked outof the assembly, saying the spy
>> ringallegations proved that Sinn Feincould not be trusted. Sinn
>> Feinofficials said security forces weretrying to discredit them.
>> Theassembly was suspended and has notbeen reinstated, a major
>> stumblingblock to restoring normalgovernment to the province.Last
>> week, the spying chargesagainst Donaldson and the otherswere
>> suddenly dropped. Prosecutorssaid pursuing the case was "no
>> longerin the public interest," offering nofurther explanation and
>> sparkingnew questions about an alreadymy
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> st!
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>> erious episode that hadbrought down Northern Ireland'selected !
>> local go
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>> vernment.Donaldson was embraced by SinnFein as a vindicated hero,
>> appearingat a news conference alongsideAdams, who supported him
>> andblasted British officials for theirhandling of the case.But that
>> all changed Friday. In histelevised statement, Donaldson
>> saidBritish agents had approached himThursday night, which he said
>> was hisfirst contact with them since 2002.He did not say what they
>> told him.But Adams, at a news conferenceFriday, said they told
>> Donaldson hiscover was about to be blown and hislife was in danger.
>> Adams saidDonaldson then confessed to SinnFein officials, and he
>> was expelledfrom the party."Obviously we did have a spy ring
>> atStormont, but it is now clear it was aBritish spy ring,"
>> McGuinness said.Donaldson's statement was filledwith contrition for
>> being "a Britishagent." He said the allegedrepublican spy ring at
>> Stormont in2002 "was a scam and a fiction. Itnever existed." He
>> said Britishsecurity officials had "created it." Hedid not say why,
>> but republicans
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> ar!
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>> especulating that some elements inthe British security forces do
>> notsupport efforts to give legitimacyand political power to Sinn
>> Fein.The British government's NorthernIreland Office issued a
>> statementFriday saying that the Stormontraid was not politically
>> motivatedand that it did turn up evidence ofrepublican spying. "The
>> fact remainsthat a huge number of stolendocuments were recovered by
>> thepolice," the statement said.In a 2001 interview with the
>> AgenceFrance-Presse news agency,Donaldson said he had
>> traveledthroughout Latin America and theMiddle East for years,
>> meeting withthe Palestine LiberationOrganization and
>> otherrevolutionary groups. In 1988, SinnFein sent him as an
>> emissary toLebanon to meet the head ofHezbollah to try to negotiate
>> therelease of an Irish teacher, BrianKeenan, who had been
>> kidnapped.Despite his extraordinary contacts,many who have met
>> Donaldson saidhe is less than memorable."I spent a day at the Sinn
>> Fein officein Stormont at one point, and hemade
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> n!
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>> o impression on me," saidCoogan, the historian. "He was liketh! e
>> wallpa
>>
>> per."
>>
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