- The Guardian,
- Tuesday November 21 2000
A bugging and tracking device was found hidden in the roof of a Ford Mondeo carrying the two men at a highly sensitive time during the review of the Good Friday agreement last December.
The owner of the car, understood to be the wife of Martin Lynch, who was convicted for arms offences in the early 1980s, is demanding exemplary damages for breach of privacy.
Her lawyers originally planned to sue the Ministry of Defence in the belief that the bug was planted by military intelligence. They turned on MI5 when they discovered that agency was responsible.
MI5 is vigorously contesting the claim for damages, defending its action under the 1994 Intelligence Services Act. It states: "No entry on or interference with property ... shall be unlawful" [in helping MI5 carry out its functions] if it is authorised by a warrant issued by the secretary of state".
In an unusual intervention - ministers rarely comment on security operations - Mo Mowlam, the former Northern Ireland secretary, admitted this summer that she had sanctioned the bugging to "save lives".
She told BBC1's You Only Live Once in July: "Lives were being lost. It was done to make sure we knew what was going on". Sinn Fein described Ms Mowlam's admission as "disappointing but not surprising".
Official sources say MI5's intention was to target Mr Lynch rather than Mr Adams or Mr McGuinness. Mr Lynch was convicted for arms offences after he was seriously injured when he was shot at by police in 1982. Police found weapons in a car.
Last year's decision to place a large bugging device in the one-year-old Mondeo surprised independent security experts because of its audacity and risk of political fallout.
The owner's suspicions were apparently aroused when the car was stopped by the RUC at a roadblock and the driver detained.
Mr Adams described the bugging as a "hugely serious breach of faith" and accused the intelligence services of attempting to sabotage the peace process.
The Mondeo had apparently been used regularly by Sinn Fein, suggesting that the party's counter-intelligence experts had been lulled into a false security by the developing peace process. In the past Sinn Fein leaders and the IRA have regularly switched cars to avoid detection.
The bug was equipped with aerials, a digitally-enhanced transmission system and a digital tracking capability which could be picked up by satellite. A Sinn Fein news release said it was "linear amplified" and had a built-in transmission aerial.
Sinn Fein said a microphone had been built into the roof of the Mondeo, and wiring ran along the skin of the car.
The device, which had rechargeable batteries, could be switched on and off by remote control, according to Mr Adams. It could be voice-activated or switched on by a remote radio signal operated by a computer or by an individual.
The idea would be to conserve the battery's life, but, more importantly, to prevent the occupants from detecting the device by discovering an alternative energy source.
