Ex-MI6 chief admits agents do have a licence to kill but denies executing Diana

Sir Richard Billing Dearlove, known as "C" when he headed MI6, told the Diana inquest the Secret Intelligence Service had the power to use "lethal force" - but he had never exercised it in his 38-year career as a spook.

Asked by Ian Burnett QC, counsel to the coroner, whether an operation had been mounted against the princess or Dodi Al Fayed, he replied with conviction: "Absolutely not."

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"During the whole of your time in SIS, from 1966 to 2004, were you ever aware of the service assassinating anyone?", he was asked.

Sir Richard insisted: "No, I was not."

Sir Richard's decision to give evidence at the inquest took many - not least his arch critic Mohamed Al Fayed - by surprise.

The Harrods boss returned to court yesterday for the first time since his mauling in the witness box on Monday.

Never before in its 99-year history has an MI6 chief appeared in court to defend the organisation's reputation - let alone against allegations that it murdered the mother of a future king.

The 63-year-old father of three, who was MI6's director of operations when Diana and Dodi died in Paris in August 1997, admitted the culture of SIS is to "never confirm or to deny".

"In the interests of national security the better choice is to say nothing," he said.

But he insisted his agents did not run around the world like characters in a James Bond film, assassinating public figures at will.

Twirling a pen, he admitted that, under the Intelligence Services Act, agents were allowed to conduct illegal activities - such as breaking and entering and planting bugs - in the interests of national security.

To do so, he revealed, they had to seek the written permission of the Foreign Secretary for a "Class Seven authorisation".

Sir Richard confirmed that this included using "lethal force" but insisted - to the clear disbelief of some in the public gallery - that this had never happened during his career in the service and "played no part in the policy of Her Majesty's government".

"(Were there) any assassinations under your authority?", Mr Burnett asked. "No," he replied.

Sir Richard went on to dismiss as "impossible" claims that "rogue elements" within SIS could have operated without his authorisation.

MI6's vetting procedures, he said, were "draconian" and all activities abroad were strictly managed from the UK and independently assessed by an Intelligence Commissioner.

In an emotional outburst, the otherwise ice-cool former spymaster expressed his disgust at suggestions that MI6 had been involved in a plot to murder Diana and Dodi.

"I am outraged that it should even be suggested," he said.

"It is just, again, ridiculous, and personal to myself and my staff in SIS, really deeply offensive."

Sir Richard, who was on holiday in the U.S. at the time of the Paris crash, insisted that no one had ever suggested an operation against the princess.

Anything relating to "unlawful activities" would have crossed his desk, he said.

"That includes all such things as eavesdropping, surveillance, bugging?" asked Mr Burnett.

"Everything," he replied.

"With what degree of confidence are you able to tell the jury of that fact?"

"Complete confidence," was the answer.

"What about a suggestion that the Paris station or perhaps someone in the Paris station was freelancing at the end of August 1997?"

"Out of the question. It is just not conceivable."

Asked whether the French security services could have been part of plot ordered by Prince Philip with the collusion of Prince Charles and other senior Establishment figures, Sir Richard countered: "It is a mischievous and fanciful allegation."

He also denied that Prince Philip had secret links with MI6.

"So to the suggestion that Prince Philip is an active operational member of MI6, what do you say?" asked Mr Burnett.

"I can say nothing other than it is utterly ridiculous. The same is true of Prince Charles," he replied.

And Mr Fayed's allegation that Prince Philip and the intelligence agencies actually ran the country?

Sir Richard sighed and added: "I don't want to be flippant. I am tempted to say I am absurdly flattered, but once again it is an absurd allegation.

"It is difficult to deal with an allegation that is so absurd. It is completely off the map. I can't think of any other way of saying it."

Questioned about claims by renegade agent Richard Tomlinson that MI6 conspired to assassinate Serb leader Slobodan Milosovic, the former spymaster admitted that a Balkan agent had proposed killing another local warlord in the Nineties but described the idea as "entirely stillborn".

He said: "The proposal was essentially killed stone dead by the officer's line managers on the basis that the idea was out of touch with service practice.

"It was not a proposal to which any serious consideration was given."

Asked why an agent would even raise the possibility of assassination if there was no "ethos" of it, Sir Richard replied: "The service does not control the thoughts of its officers.

"I think the immediate reaction of the line management shows a very consistent attitude."

Sir Richard clashed frequently with Michael Mansfield, representing Mr Fayed, describing his claims of a plot as "tedious".

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Mr Mansfield," he said irritably at one point.

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker admitted yesterday that the court had heard evidence of "only marginal, if any, relevance" but said it was the best way to try to deal with any "public suspicion".