The leading Ulster Unionist peer Lord (Ken) Maginnis has been accused of endangering the life of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Ms Nuala O'Loan, and of inciting "terrorists and thugs."
The astonishing accusations are levelled at Lord Maginnis, the UUP's security spokesman, in a letter dated December 7th from the chief executive of the Ombudsman's office, Mr Samuel Pollock.
The letter followed a television appearance in which the peer likened Ms O'Loan to a "suicide bomber", accused her of having "trampled on the sensitivities and emotions" of the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing, and suggested she had "outlived her usefulness" as Ombudsman.
Mr Pollock said the reference to Ms O'Loan as a "suicide bomber" was "outrageous and reckless" in the extreme. "The very live connotations which such phrases have in the context of the Middle East or the atrocities in New York constitutes a vile and slanderous attack on the person of the Ombudsman."
Mr Pollock continues: "Within the context of Northern Ireland, your remarks that she has 'outlived her usefulness', however intended, did not stop short of incitement to some of those terrorists and thugs who can so easily legitimise their murdering obsession following statements from influential mentors."
In a robust reply, Lord Maginnis invites Ms O'Loan to sue him for defamation and tells Mr Pollock he will not leave unchallenged what he considers his "novel, if outrageous, calumny that I, as an 'influential mentor' of 'terrorists and thugs', did not stop short of incitement to murder".
Having been told he need not reply "in the absence of a public and unequivocal withdrawal" of his remarks, Lord Maginnis informed Mr Pollock of his intention to disclose the correspondence to the press to highlight what he described as the chief executive's "arrogance as a public servant," as well as "the intimidatory attitude adopted by the Police Ombudsman's senior staff" and "an example of the 'out-of-context' way in which facts are addressed."
Lord Maginnis spoke of his "contempt" for "the superficial way in which the Ombudsman has sought to weave unrelated facts into a fantasy that brings grief to the victims' families, creates distrust across our society and scandalously damages the reputation of the RUC Special Branch".
Questioning "any difference between Ms O'Loan's 'broad-brush' denigration of the Special Branch and the campaign by militant republicanism to have it disbanded", Lord Maginnis says Mr Pollock's letter made him wonder "what, if this is the state of mind that predominates, would have been the effect of actual terrorist pressure as the Ombudsman's report was being prepared?"