THE Public Prosecution Service in the North has dramatically dropped all charges against a US citizen accused of involvement in the notorious break-in at Castlereagh top security base in 2002.

A former police chef is to be extradited from the United States to face charges linked to the theft of Special Branch files in Belfast.

The British government was today challenged to explain a three and a half year delay in seeking the extradition of a key suspect in a Northern Ireland spy scandal.

Sinn Fein’s administration chief at Stormont headed the IRA’s intelligence unit, establishing links with ETA, the PLO and other worldwide terrorist groups, a court heard today.

Police in the North have reportedly secured forensic evidence linking a former chef at Castlereagh barracks in Belfast with a daring robbery at the facility last March.