A man said to be the top British spy inside the IRA has been named by at least four Sunday newspapers in Ireland and Britain, it emerged today.
The man, codenamed Stakeknife, has lived at addresses both in Belfast and Dublin, but it is believed his British army handlers pulled him out and sent him to a safe house in England just before his cover was blown.
The alleged mole was reportedly once head of the IRA's own internal security unit and was a member of its general headquarters staff.
As the British government's most powerful weapon in its 30-year "Dirty War" against the IRA, he is suspected of being allowed to get away with up to 40 murders by the British army's intelligence unit, it was claimed.
With Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens now examining the agent as part of his inquiry into alleged security force collusion with loyalist killers in Northern Ireland, speculation about his identity has reached fever pitch in Belfast.
But the Sunday Tribuneand editions of the Sunday Peopleand Sunday Worldon both sides of the Border have all named a man they claim to be British army's most valued informer on IRA operations.
Sir John wants to probe the spy about claims that innocentCatholics and other agents were murdered to protect his identity.
He said: "We will be questioning Stakeknife soon. We fear other informantshave been sacrificed to save him and we will be asking him about that."
A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman refused last night to discuss the disclosure.
"We wouldn't comment on anything of an intelligence or security nature," she said.
The man nicknamed Stakeknife has lived at addresses both in Belfast and Dublin - but he is now reported to be at a safe house in England.
The top spy was in charge of the IRA's so-called 'Nutting Squad' - which was tasked with tracing down informers - and head of the northern command security for almost two decades, it was claimed.
He is said to have been involved in the killings of loyalists, policemen, soldiers, and civilians to protect his cover so he could keep passing vital intelligence.
He also kidnapped, interrogated, tortured and killed other IRA men suspected of being British informers, it was reported.
He was also said to have provided his military handlers with the information which led to the so-called Death On The Rock killings of three IRA volunteers in Gibraltar in 1988 by the SAS.
At the time, the IRA was convinced that their active service unit had been betrayed by an informer. But its mole hunt drew a blank.