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1994

What's going on?

THE RECENT CHINOOK helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre, which killed 25 top RUC Special Branch, MI5 and Military intelligence officers, is still mysterious. As pointed out by Private Eye and the Dublin-based investigative magazine The Phoenix a lot of official disinformation has been peddled by what the media likes to call `security sources'. A 'D' Notice, Standing Defence Advisory Notice Number 6, (which forbids publication of material about intelligence matters) has prevented British journalists from reporting certain aspects of the crash or even that their news coverage has been censored. An eight-mile exclusion zone was imposed around the scene together with a prohibition order forbidding all civilian flying within 15 miles up to a height of 20,000 feet. Reporters were unable to hire aircraft to take serial pictures.
Indeed, the British media recycled lies and obvious nonsense about the local weather conditions, the flying ability of the aircraft and its destination. It also suppressed the evidence of yachtsman, Mark Holbrook, and two other witnesses Russell Ellacott and Tony Breacher, whose eyewitness accounts did not fit in with the official line on the tragedy. The latest twist in the story is that investigators from the Chinook's makers, Boeing, have been prevented from examining the wreckage. Naturally, as at first aspersions were cast on the machine's reliability, Boeing were very indignant about this. Now, however, everything is sweetness and light as the authorities have `let it be known' that whatever happened it was not a mechanical fault. The full truth has yet to come out. Perhaps it never will. Obviously the authorities have something to hide.
Private Eye has speculated that the high level meeting was being held to discuss strategy in the event of an IRA ceasefire in the aftermath of a Sinn Féin acceptance of the Major Reynolds Declaration and the offer of 'peace talks' to the IRA. According to the magazine, `the military are worried about a breakaway way by a militant IRA minority and an outbreak of frenetic violence. The ostensible reason far the conference, therefore, was to plan far a possible announcement of a ceasefire and a containment of the militant IRA rump.' This may well be so. However, if there is an IRA ceasefire and if concessions are seen to have been made to the Provos, it is just as likely that 'an outbreak of frenetic violence' will come from either the UVF or UFF. No doubt this has also occurred to MI5 and the RUC Special Branch. MI5's chief, Stella Rimington could have told us a lot more about the `fight against terrorism' in her recent televised Dimbleby Lecture. What is going on?

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