Twenty-eight British soldiers have been removed from sensitive duties after a document disappeared from high security police complex in Belfast, it was claimed tonight.
Members of the Royal Irish Regiment were withdrawn from security duties at the Castlereagh complex and transferred to Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down.
Their duties included manning observation posts in nationalist areas such as Divis Tower in west Belfast.
A security source said: "Some of the soldiers still aren't cleared and are still in these observation towers. Since this document when missing, 28 have been taken out of there pending a large investigation."
The claims follow the launch earlier this month of a police investigation into the disappearance of a security document from a room at Castlereagh.
It has been alleged that the stolen document contains the names of up to 400 possible terrorist suspects and may have fallen into the hands of the Ulster Defence Association.
According to the source, B Company of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment recently took over Op Faction based at Castlereagh.
The source said that last month the counter intelligence company of Joint Support Group Northern Ireland carried out a security inspection of Royal Irish members involved in Op Faction.
The security review found that some of the soldiers had not been cleared to the required level and asked why they were permitted to work in Castlereagh and on observation towers.
The source said: "Due to operational cutbacks, the Royal Irish wouldn't have had the manpower if they didn't have these people in here."
An Army spokesman said: "The Royal Irish home service is an integral part of the British Army and is required to conform to the same stringent operational requirements as any other unit.
"It is essential to the role of the security forces in supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland."
Meanwhile, after a meeting with Sinn Fein today, the Northern Ireland Security Minister Mr Ian Pearson confirmed that the document had gone missing from Castlereagh.
PA