Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams said today he had accepted denials by Mr Freddie Scappaticci that he was the British army mole known as "Stakeknife".
The Belfast builder (57) should be presumed innocent until found guilty, Mr Adams said. He also accused the media of acting as judge and jury in the case without having any proof.
Mr Scappaticci has been in his west Belfast home since coming out of hiding on Wednesday to protest his innocence.
Asked if he believed Mr Scappaticci was not an informer, Mr Adams said: "I have to accept that but I'm not going to get into a whole pile of speculation.
"The big question, you see, is: Who and what agenda is being served by all of this and how does it fit into the current political vacuum?
"How does it fit into the stopping of the Assembly elections? How does it fit into the revelations of Stevens [on security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries]?" he asked.
"How does it fit into the fact that more and more people are being alerted to the fact that the British government and its agencies were up to their elbows in killing and in destroying people's lives and manipulating people?"