Special Reconnaissance Regiment
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) is a Special Forces Regiment of the British Army. It was established on 6 April 2005 at RMA Sandhurst and is a component of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) alongside the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS), supported by the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG).
Role in De Menezes killing
According to a number of press reports, Members of the regiment were involved in the surveillance of Jean Charles de Menezes prior to his shooting on 22 July 2005.
- 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.[1]
According to the IPCC's Stockwell One report, two unarmed soldiers were attached to SO12 surveillance teams in July 2005.[2]
In March 2006, a Panorama documentary stated that De Menezes's flat had been under surveillance "by an undercover soldier whose parent unit had played a critical covert role in Northern Ireland."
- At 9.33 that Friday morning Jean's last journey had begun. As he left the flat he'd been living in he never imagined that he might never return, and he'd certainly no idea that he was being watched by an undercover soldier known as Tango 10 and a Special Branch surveillance team. According to the soldier's statement he wasn't able to make a positive identification because he was answering the call of nature at the time. He said he wasn't able to transmit what he'd seen and couldn't switch on the video camera. That's why, according to the soldier's statement, there is no video footage of this male.[3]
This soldier testified to the De Menezes inquest under the codename 'Frank' in October 2008.[4]
Return to Northern Ireland
In March 2009, it emerged that the Special Reconnaissance Regiment was to return to Northern Ireland to gather intelligence on dissident republicans. It was disputed whether the Regiment's presence had been requested by PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde or by MI5.[5][6]
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Notes
- ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor Special army unit played central role The Guardian, Thursday August 18 2005
- ↑ Stockwell One report, Independent Police Complaints Commission, accessed via BBC News website 8 March 2009.
- ↑ Peter Taylor, Programme Transcript, Panorama, BBC News, 9 March 2006.
- ↑ transcript (pdf), Stockwell Inquest, 20 October 2008.
- ↑ Forces are a 'threat': McGuinness, BBC News, 6 March 2009.
- ↑ Dan Keenan and Neil Carnduff, Intelligence forces recalled to North for security duty, Irish Times, 6 March 2009.
