The IRA spy known as Stakeknife has died, it was confirmed tonight.
It is understood the Army agent passed away several days ago and was buried last week.
The agent was widely named previously as Freddie Scappaticci, who had always strongly denied the allegation.
The West Belfast man would have been in his 70s and had left Northern Ireland around 2003 when he was first accused of being the highest-ranking British spy in the Provisional IRA's ranks.
Read more: Stakeknife civil cases can go ahead despite ongoing criminal probe, judge rules
Stakeknife worked within the IRA’s notorious “nutting squad” interrogating suspected informers during the Troubles.
The alleged activities of Stakeknife are under investigation in Operation Kenova led by former Bedfordshire chief constable, Jon Boutcher.
The report from the probe into crimes such as murder and torture linked to Stakeknife, and the role played by the security services, including MI5, was due to be published in early 2023.
Jon Boutcher said his team was made aware last week of the death of Freddie Scappaticci.
He said his staff are working through the implications of Mr Scappaticci’s death and will publish an interim report this year.
“We remain committed to providing families with the truth of what happened to their loved ones and continue to actively pursue criminal charges against several individuals,” he said.
“We will publish an interim report on (Operation) Kenova’s findings this year.
“We also recognise that people may now feel more able to talk to the Kenova team following the death of Mr Scappaticci, who had long been accused by many of being involved in the kidnap, murder and torture of potential PIRA informants during The Troubles.
“I appeal to anyone with information that might help those impacted by the events we are investigating to contact us in confidence to help families understand what happened during these difficult times.”
A statement from KRW Law on Tuesday evening said the news would "frustrate" many families who had been waiting over six years for the publication of the Operation Kenova report.
The law firm is representing the families of some of those killed by the IRA's internal security unit, the "nutting squad".
It said news of Scappaticci's death would have an impact on the publication of Jon Boutcher's report.
"Families of victims will rightly ask questions.," the statement read.
"Their cynicism is heightened upon learning that news of Scappaticci's burial seems to have been kept quiet by the Authorities over the Easter weekend.
"People just aren't happy and that’s only to be expected given the unexpected news.
"Answers will be needed sooner rather than later given heightened expectations that after all these years they would finally get some degree of closure."
The law firm also said there was a "significant" amount of litigation linked to Scappaticci, including "over 35 high court civil actions alleging collusion against him and State agencies together with judicial review challenges touching upon his status as a protected State intelligence asset".
"We have seen it before so many times previously with agents and informants dying before legal processes played out and robbing victims of some semblance of justice," it read.
"Unfortunately we may now be seeing that again."
READ NEXT:
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- Stakeknife: Freddie Scappaticci 'arrested in murder probe'
- Freddie Scappaticci admits possessing extreme pornography
- Stakeknife claims: Director of Public Prosecutions calls on PSNI Chief Constable to investigate
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