Former SAS officers were allowed by the British government to train security forces in Sri Lanka around the time of the 1980s Golden Temple massacre, recently released government documents show.

The disclosure comes days after documents emerged appearing to show that SAS officers were involved in training Indian troops in the months leading up to the raid on the Amritsar temple, the Sikh religion’s holiest site, in June 1984.

It will intensify the diplomatic tensions over Britain’s role in the raid in Amritsar and add to evidence suggesting the government was happy to let former and serving special forces soldiers operate in India.

The new documents show that in September 1984 foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe’s private secretary, Peter Ricketts, wrote to David Barclay, private secretary to prime minister Margaret Thatcher about a request to allow a British company with SAS connections to work in Sri Lanka.

Continue read >>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/former-sas-officers-training-sri-lanka

Source: The Guardian (UK)