A lawyer for 21 Troubles victims has suggested Stakeknife is not a single IRA member.
Concerns have emerged over the true status of the British agent after Operation Kenova chief Sir Iain Livingstone wrote to relatives of the dead over delays in providing them family reports.
West Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, a former commander of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit, was named as Stakeknife in 2003.
Also known as the ‘nutting squad’, it was responsible for hunting down and killing informers.
While it was previously known Scappaticci worked for the British army’s Force Research Unit (FRU), documents withheld by MI5 until recently confirm he was instructed by that agency via his military handlers.
In a new book, veteran Troubles journalist Martin Dillon suggested Stakeknife was “British intelligence project” rather than an individual.
Some relatives also believe this may be the case, although it has been denied by Operation Kenova, which was set up in 2016 and produced an interim report into his activities last March.
In a letter to Mr Livingstone last week solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, who represents 21 families linked to the Kenova investigation, highlighted his concerns.
Mr Winters said the term Stakeknife was first used by the media in 1999 adding it is his understanding it “has no formal security force or intelligence services origin and there is no security classification or authorisation” for its use.
He also says there is evidence to suggest the most “highly placed agent inside PIRA ISU was previously known to the security forces and intelligence services” by a different codename, although he points out that a former Stakeknife handler previously used the codename.
Mr Winters believes the term’s “industrial use…has served to distort and confuse”.
“The phrase has become synonymous with the figure formerly presenting as the most senior intelligence asset working inside PIRA ISU in the period 1979–1994,” he said.
“This is entirely misleading because it has served to upscale Scappaticci’s status as both the apex and entirety of British military intelligence penetration of PIRA ISU during this period.”
Mr Winters said last year’s Operation Kenova interim report suggested that “many other agents” operated inside the ISU.
“On any reading, these findings clearly point to a much wider systemic state penetration of the ISU and in turn the existence of many other agents either directly or indirectly linked to PIRA ISU,” he wrote.
“For some time now there has been speculation that “Stakeknife” is or was Fred Scappaticci…clearly he was but one of a number of such agents.
“He was not the only one.”
Mr Winters suggests the Operation Kenova terms of reference were “Stakeknife-centric”.
“If the starting and indeed finishing point is that Freddie Scappaticci was the agent ‘Stakeknife’ then that is equally misleading,” he said.
The lawyer added that “post release of the interim report and taking a holistic view it is difficult to maintain a position that the term “Stakeknife” could be synonymous with one person only”.
“The industrial misuse of the term has served to project the entirety of state PIRA ISU penetration onto one person.
“That runs counter to any suggestion that such penetration was systemic involving the use of a significant number of other agents many of whom were likely to have been more highly placed than Fred Scappaticci.”
Mr Winters also highlights ongoing legal action linked to the IRA killing of informer Caroline Moreland just weeks before the 1994 ceasefire.
Operation Kenova, which was previously led by PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher, has confirmed Stakeknife was not involved in Ms Moreland’s murder.
Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Winters said serious questions hang over the Stakeknife affair.
“As time has moved on following the interim report and recent litigation we don’t see how StakeKnife can be outed as one person to the exclusion of all other agents,” he said.
“There’s no security force classification on that term. Families of victims expect to see the precise security force classification of that term.”
Mr Winters said he has asked Mr Livingstone to “explain the origin of the moniker Stakeknife”.
“It’s possibly an intelligence based media invention conveniently deployed to fixate all attention onto only one agent,” he said.
The lawyer said sections of the interim report “point to a much wider agent penetration of ISU”.
“We have requested Iain Livingstone to give us assurances on wider context and issues raised,” he said.
“The alleged Stakeknife agent Freddie Scappaticci was gone from ISU as early as 1990 yet many other killings happened after then some of which were preventable.
“These issues and more need included in any Stakeknife exposition,” Mr Winters added.
A spokesman for Operation Kenova referred to a previous statement from the body stating “the interim report makes clear Kenova established Stakeknife was an individual”.
“The final report is still to be published, so it would be inappropriate to comment further on the points raised until that point,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Stakeknife relatives Mr Livingstone has confirmed that MI5 has agreed to allow the release of some private family reports.
The Operation Kenova chief wrote to loved ones last week to highlight his frustration over delays in providing reports.
He confirmed security checking has been delayed by British government officials until a decision is made about naming Stakeknife, which has not taken place due to its ‘neither confirm nor deny’ policy.
Members of the Kenova team met the British government recently “to discuss the possibility of proceeding with family reports without revealing Stakeknife’s identity”.
In a letter to relatives, Mr Livingstone says he has suggested to officials “that the family reports should be security checked on the assumption that Stakeknife would not be named”.
He added that if this position changes, family reports can then be updated.
Mr Livingstone said he also offered to brief ministers to ensure they “had a full understanding of Kenova’s position and why in this case we believe there should be a departure from the neither confirm and deny policy so that Stakeknife can be named”.
“Colleagues in the Kenova team have now met with MI5 and have agreed that some family reports can be released within the next few weeks, with the remaining family reports planned to be security checked and cleared for release by the end of April,” Mr Livingstone wrote.