Here's a piece from today's on-line Independent. --

Police in N Ireland 'sabotage'peace deal By David McKittrick Ireland correspondent, 28 April 2002

Both the Government and senior police figures in Northern Ireland are convinced that top policemen are working against the peace process, according to authoritative sources in Belfast. They believe that a number of officers have been planting exaggerated and distorted newspaper stories with the aim of disrupting the process.

This particularly worries the authorities because it has produced an air of crisis in the peace process, which has built up partly because of the issue of IRA activity in Colombia and of possible IRA involvement in the Castlereagh Special Branch break-in.

But senior sources say that, while republicans have a case to answer, leaks from within the senior echelons of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have seriously exacerbated matters.

One senior source said: "We don't believe the whole thing is orchestrated, but there is an element of political motivation in this and a number of other areas.

"This is more than just innocent gossip and talking to sources. There seem to be a few people who have an axe to grind – individuals who have particular political slants and don't like the process."

During Mo Mowlam's term as Northern Ireland Secretary, a stream of damaging leaks from within government indicated that some were against the process.

Now sources say that some recent reports have been "not entirely wrong", but have been selective and exaggerated with mischievous intent.

Suspicions remain strong that the IRA was involved in the Castlereagh break-in, but this has not been established. Gerry Adams and other Sinn Fein leaders have been adamant that republicans were not responsible.

Castlereagh, Colombia and other issues have been seized on by Unionist opponents of the Good Friday Agreement, who are applying pressure on the Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble. The issues are to be debated in the Northern Ireland Assembly tomorrow.

Mr Trimble, who met Gerry Adams on Friday, said afterwards: "The crucial point was explained that nobody in the Unionist community believed a word that republicans are saying about recent events. This is rapidly draining the credibility of this administration and this process."

Mr Adams said: "There are difficulties within republicanism about these events and about how others have reacted to these events, and, as Mr Trimble has told us, there are difficulties within Unionism.

"We appreciate that this is the case and understand the destabilising effect of all of these allegations, but the destabilising is more acute within Unionism."