>>3656337 (pb)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/29/mi5-urged-uvf-to-kill-irish-pm-claim-newly-released-state-papers

Allegedly they asked the UVF to do their dirty work & assassinate the Irish PM - UVF said no…

“MI5 encouraged loyalist paramilitaries to assassinate Charles Haughey, the former Irish prime minister was warned in a letter sent to his Dublin office.

The previously secret message – apparently issued by the Ulster Volunteer Force and released under the republic’s 30-year rule to its national archives – claims British intelligence went as far as supplying the UVF with targeting details.

The note, on UVF-headed notepaper, was received by Haughey’s office in 1987 while he was serving as taoiseach for a third time. The threat was taken seriously by the Irish government at the time: divers were dispatched to check that no explosive device had been attached to the hull of his yacht.

The loyalist group claimed it had been exploited and manipulated by MI5, MI6 and British special forces from 1972 to 1978 and again in 1985.

“In 1985 we were approached by a MI5 officer attached to the NIO [Northern Ireland office] and based in Lisburn,” the UVF letter said. “He asked us to execute you.”“