THE SAS planned to kidnap Martin McGuinness in Derry and drown him in the Atlantic, it's been claimed.
An alleged plan to send the future Deputy First Minister to a watery grave was detailed in the 'Sunday World'. It was also claimed in the newspaper that former Chief Superintendent Sam Donnelly - the ex head of special branch in Derry and liaison off
icer between the RUC and SAS - had blocked the alleged assassination attempt.
A retired security force officer, quoted in the article, said: "It was in the mid 1980s. Two SAS officers - one with the rank of major who had been operating undercover in the Bogside and Creggan areas of Derry - approached Sam Donnelly and asked him to consider the proposal. At the time Martin was in charge of the IRA Northern Command and he had also been chief of staff.
"The SAS men told Sam they wanted to snatch McGuinness and quickly transport him by car to a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) waiting a few hundred yards away on the River Foyle.
"The plan was that as the RIB raced towards the mouth of the river and into Lough Foyle and Atlantic, SAS men would tie heavy weights to shackled IRA man who was to remain conscious throughout the operation.
"Once the boat reached Greencastle and Inishowen Head, McGuinness was to be told what was going to happen to him - he was going to be thrown overboard, never to be seen again."
However, the source said that when Donnelly was told that six SAS operatives knew of the plan, he replied "too many" before turning it down. "Either way Sam Donnelly saved Martin McGuinness's life," the source added.
Sam Donnelly was buried in Portrush earlier this month.
