The Five Demands

WikiLeaks: US officials saw footage of Massereene murders within hours

By Adrian Rutherford and Paul Connolly

US officials were shown horrific time-lapse footage of the murder of two soldiers at Massereene barracks.
Diplomats watched the highly-sensitive images within hours of the Real IRA killings as Washington stepped up its intelligence-gathering operation on dissident terror activity, a leaked embassy cable reveals.
Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were killed and four others injured in the shootings — the worst terrorist attack in Northern Ireland for more than a decade.
In the following days and weeks confidential security assessments, information and analysis were all shared with senior American officials.
They formed the basis for detailed cables which were forwarded to the offices of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the National Security Council, a key law enforcement arm of the US government.
The confidential dispatches, released by WikiLeaks, detail:
* How efforts by the PSNI and other agencies to combat terrorism were being monitored by US security chiefs;
* Requests from Hillary Clinton for detailed briefings on the security forces’ attempts to thwart further terror attacks;
* Divisions within Sinn Fein over its response and fears among republicans that the London government would over-react;
* Concern that the peace process would be seriously destabilised, with fresh doubts cast over the devolution of policing powers.
The shootings took place on the evening of March 7, 2009 as four off-duty soldiers walked outside the barracks to collect a pizza.
As the exchange was taking place, two gunmen emerged from a nearby car and began shooting, raking the scene with semi-automatic gunfire.
Sappers Azimkar, from London, and Quinsey, who was from Birmingham, were killed. Both had been due to leave for Afghanistan the next day.
Within hours of the attack, a series of cables were passed between the US embassies in London and Dublin and Washington.
They indicate the alarm which was sparked at the highest levels of the American government.
One dispatch reports on a briefing given to consulate officials in Belfast by Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton.
During the meeting they were shown a series of time-lapse photographs of the murders from cameras positioned near the entrance to Massereene barracks.
The cable describes how officials viewed the two pizza delivery men pull up to the barracks, with five soldiers emerging to pick up their orders.
“At that moment, two gunmen armed with AK-47s drove up in a car and opened fire,” the cable reports. “They walked towards the soldiers, shooting at them even as they lay on the ground.
“They returned to the car, but came out again and fired more shots before finally returning to the car, which then sped away.”
During the meeting, Mr Leighton also expressed concern about Sinn Fein’s response, and referred to apparent division and dissent within the party. He urged US officials to push Sinn Fein for greater co-operation.
In a separate dispatch sent the following month, Mrs Clinton referred to the “impressive reporting” and “particularly helpful” infor- mation provided on assessments by senior PSNI staff.
She said the information had been passed to analysts, who examined police efforts to prevent future attacks and unrest.
Three days after Massereene, Constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead as he responded to an emergency call-out in Craigavon.
The dissident killings came almost two years after the formation of a power-sharing Exec- utive, and were seen as the first big test of the peace process.
In the immediate aftermath, concern over the impact on negotiations to devolve policing powers to Stormont was raised by US officials.
However, the documents also detail the resolve and determination of the UK and Irish governments not to be deterred by the attacks.
A cable sent within 48 hours of the Massereene killings quotes Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin as saying the political parties — notably the DUP and Sinn Fein — were “hanging together” in dealing with the fallout.
He stressed the Irish government’s view was for third parties — especially the London government — to leave enough space for the parties to respond co-operatively and prove there is no mandate for the dissidents.
The cable also details a conversation with Rita O’Hare, Sinn Fein’s US representative, who expressed fears the UK government would over-react.
“She was especially nervous about the potential negative impact on republicans in the North of bringing MI5 into the investigation,” it states.
Two men were later charged with the Massereene murders.
Colin Duffy, a prominent republican from Lurgan, and Brian Shivers from Magherafelt also face six counts of attempted murder.