Ex-secretary of N. Ireland admits Sinn Fein leader's car was bugged

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -- Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam has admitted she sanctioned the bugging of a car used by Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams while peace talks were being held, the BBC said Saturday.

"Lives were being lost. At least it was done to make sure we knew what was going on," Mowlam said in an interview to be broadcast Monday, details of which were released by the BBC in advance.

The Northern Ireland Office refused to confirm any involvement by British army intelligence or others.

Sinn Fein officials found a microphone, wiring and transmitter in a car used by Adams and Martin McGuinness in December 1999 -- after delicate peace talks with rival pro-British Protestant politicians had ended.

"Republicans would be disappointed but not surprised by this revelation. It is evidence of the effectiveness of the British securocrat agenda within the system -- at such a sensitive time in the talks -- to subvert efforts for peace," a Sinn Fein spokesman told Reuters.

The discovery sparked a row at the time between Dublin and London. Adams accused Britain of a serious breach of faith and said it had damaged the peace process.

Political parties from both sides of the sectarian divide revived an uneasy power-sharing government of the Protestant majority and the Roman Catholic minority in May this year.

The IRA and other mainstream guerrilla groups are observing a cease-fire while politicians from the Protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority try to seal a lasting peace. But renegade Irish republicans and pro-British "loyalist" militia have been blamed for sporadic oubreaks of violence.

Mowlam left her job as Northern Ireland Secretary in a government reshuffle in 1999 and is now the British Cabinet Office Minister.

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