Editing Force Research Unit (section)

==Alleged infiltration of republican paramilitary groups==
FRU are also alleged to have handled agents within [[Irish republicanism|republican]] paramilitary groups. A number of agents are suspected to have been handled by the FRU including [[Provisional IRA|IRA]] units who planted bombs and assassinated. {{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} Attacks are said to have taken place involving FRU-controlled agents highly placed within the IRA.

It is suspected that the FRU sought to influence the IRA primarily through an agent codenamed "[[Stakeknife]]", thought to have been a member of the IRA's [[Internal Security Unit]] (a unit responsible for [[counter-intelligence]], interrogation and [[court martial]] of informers within the IRA). There is a debate as to whether this agent was IRA member [[Freddie Scappaticci]] or another, as of yet unidentified, IRA member.<ref>Scappaticci denies the allegations and in May 2003 began legal action to force the then NI Secretary of State, [[Jane Kennedy (politician)|Jane Kennedy]], to deny he is/was a British Agent. At this point (May 2006) Scappaticci has launched no libel actions against media making the allegations. There is also suspicion in Irish republican circles that the real "Stakeknife" and/or other British agents have yet to be unmasked, this suspicion was compounded by the revelation that [[Denis Donaldson]] was a mole within Sinn Féin/the Republican movement, and by interviews given by the man calling himself "[[Kevin Fulton]]" in March 2006.</ref> It is believed that "Stakeknife" was used by the FRU to influence the outcome of investigations conducted by the IRA's Internal Security Unit into the activities of IRA volunteers.

It is alleged that, in 1987, the UDA came into possession of details relating to the identity of the FRU-controlled IRA volunteer codenamed "Stakeknife" and that, unaware of this IRA volunteer's value to the FRU, they planned to assassinate him. Allegedly, after the FRU discovered "Stakeknife" was in danger from UDA assassination, they used [[Brian Nelson (double agent)|Brian Nelson]] to persuade the UDA to assassinate [[Francisco Notarantonio]] instead, a Belfast pensioner who had been [[interned]] as an Irish republican in the 1940s.<ref>According to the article title 'My unit conspired in the murder of civilians in Ireland' - by Neil Mackay, the officer in the FRU who passed Notarantonio's details to Nelson was "Captain M" assumed to be Cpt. Margaret Walshaw.</ref> The killing of Notarantonio was claimed by the UFF at the time.<ref>Details on the Death of Notarantonio available on CAIN Sutton [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1987.html here].</ref>  Following the killing of Notarantonio, unaware of the involvement of the FRU, the IRA assassinated two UDA leaders in reprisal attacks. It has also been alleged that the FRU secretly passed details of the two UDA leaders to the IRA via "Stakeknife" in an effort to distract attention from him as a possible informer{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}.