Special Reconnaissance Regiment

Role in De Menezes killing

After initially insisting that the role of the undercover, plainclothes unit was "low-level" and "behind the scenes", Whitehall sources told the Guardian yesterday that the soldiers were directly involved in the surveillance operation. They were members of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, set up in April to help combat international terrorism. It is the first time the new regiment has been engaged in an operation in Britain.

The regiment was formed from the 14th Intelligence Company, known as "14 Int", or the "Det" (for Detachment), a unit set up to gather intelligence covertly on terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland. Its recruits are trained by the SAS. Officials yesterday said the regiment had helped to organise the surveillance operation in the run-up to the shooting, but the undercover soldiers were not physically present at Stockwell tube station.

However, sources said later that soldiers from the regiment played a much more prominent role than was initially admitted. Whether they were on the bus following Mr de Menezes and at Stockwell tube station could not be ruled in or out, they said. The Ministry of Defence declined to comment, but is unlikely to prevent the Independent Police Complaints Commission from questioning the soldiers.

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• Gordon Kerr