Ex-Sinn Fein official exposed as British spy found slain, tortured

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ire05.html

DUBLIN, Ireland -- A former Sinn Fein official recently exposed as a British spy was found fatally shot Tuesday after apparently being tortured, police said -- a slaying certain to send shock waves through Northern Ireland's peace process.

Denis Donaldson was Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland. He admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's antiterrorist police for two decades. He went into hiding because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death.

But the IRA denied responsibility in a one-line statement. ''The IRA had no involvement whatsoever in the death of Denis Donaldson,'' the outlawed group said.

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Donaldson, 55, had been tortured before being killed -- apparently with one or two shotgun blasts to his head -- inside his isolated home near Glenties, County Donegal, in northwest Ireland. He was last seen alive Monday while walking in the village, McDowell said.

[dmkinsey]

1. You just don't mess with the IRA

n

[long_green]

2. There is asking for it, there is really asking for it

and then there is what this guy was doing. I'm not condoning, mind you, but dude.