Mr Tony Blair has refused to comment on a Sinn Fein allegation that a car used by Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness during the Mitchell review and when travelling to meet the IRA was bugged by intelligence agents.
At Stormont yesterday, the Sinn Fein president displayed a tracking and listening device which he said was secreted in a Ford Mondeo car that he and Mr McGuinness regularly used during sensitive stages of the talks. He said the device was discovered during a routine check.
"The question is, who sanctioned this?", said Mr Adams. "And if it wasn't sanctioned, who then has control, whether it be British military intelligence or RUC intelligence, or whoever? . . . Does this help the peace process? The answer is No. The securocrats are still at their old ways."
He could not predict how the IRA would react but added, "You can tell that the IRA won't be pleased by this".
He described the device as sophisticated. It was colour-coded to the car and was inserted in such a manner that it would be impossible for anyone carrying out repairs to find it, he added. It had digital tracking capability, probably linked by satellite, and enhanced audio transmission. He said it consisted of aerials, a tracking system, a sensor, a tiny microphone and wiring.
He and Mr McGuinness had use of the year-old car from a west Belfast republican whom he didn't want to name. However, he was encouraging the car owner to take legal action.
They regularly used the car driving to the Castle Buildings negotiations and when travelling to meet IRA figures. He didn't believe that any information gathered was divulged to other talks participants.
Mr Blair refused to comment on the allegations in the House of Commons yesterday. His official spokesman would only add: "The security forces operate under ministerial control within the law".
A Northern Ireland Office spokesman also said no comment could be made on such security matters. In "general" terms, he added that the "security and intelligence agencies take prudent steps - overt and covert - to protect the public".
The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, yesterday called for a full inquiry into Mr Adams's allegations. He described the incident as an unacceptable and gross invasion of Mr Adams's "personal and political privacy".
Mr Ian Paisley jnr of the DUP claimed that Sinn Fein itself planted the device. And even if the security services were involved, no one would be surprised, he added.
Alison O'Connor adds from Paris:
The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, appeared unperturbed by Mr Adams's assertions.
"Was he surprised?" responded Mr Trimble, speaking after he had received the Legion d'Honneur in Paris last night. "Mr Adams's colleagues have long been adept at intercepting other people's communications."
