SAS soldier faces legal action threat

Sean Rayment / London Telegraph | April 9 2006

An SAS soldier who refused to fight in Iraq because he believed that the war was illegal has been threatened with legal action by government lawyers.

Mr Griffin, who served in the Parachute Regiment for seven years before joining the SAS in June 2003, became the first member of the elite force to refuse to fight alongside American troops because of his moral convictions.

Although Mr Griffin spoke freely about his private views, and accepted that his refusal to fight had compromised his role as a soldier, he did not reveal any information on SAS tactics or operations.

In a letter to this newspaper, however, the Treasury Solicitors, who act as the Government's legal representatives, claimed that Mr Griffin had breached a binding and life-long "solemn undertaking" not to disclose any events of his career in the SAS without first informing the Ministry of Defence.

The letter states that to breach the confidentiality contract, which all members of the special forces have to sign before they are allowed to join the elite units, is an "actionable civil wrong".

Last night, Mr Griffin said that the suggestion that his article had damaged the SAS was nonsense.

The human rights lawyer, Simon McKay, of McKay Law, who is Mr Griffin's legal representative, said: "The suggestion that Mr Griffin's comments damaged the SAS does not stand up to scrutiny.

"The truth is that this is an attempt to gag Mr Griffin, not because he disclosed details about SAS operations but because he embarrassed the Government."

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