Republican dissidents secretly planned to murder Sir Michael Rose, a retired British army general who commanded the SAS.
Paul McCaugherty, then second-in-command of Oglaigh na hEireann (OnH), a republican faction, discussed the idea with an undercover MI5 agent posing as an arms dealer.
McCaugherty intended to target Rose at his Shropshire home, and had his personal details on a piece of paper which he said he had obtained from a journalist. “We’ve found that man,” the republican told the agent.
Security sources believe dissidents wanted to kill Rose because he had served in Northern Ireland and was a well-known figure.
In 2006, the general called for the impeachment of Tony Blair, then prime minister, for leading Britain into war in Iraq.
Transcripts of conversations between