SAS to take pledge of silence By Tim Butcher, Defence Correspondent

MEMBERS of the SAS and Special Boat Squadron are to be forced to sign a confidentiality contract forbidding them from publicising their work without permission from senior officers.

The contract, to be published today in a Defence Council instruction, applies to serving and future members of Britain's special forces. It does not apply to former members. It reflects concern among senior officers that the traditional conspiracy of silence within British special forces has been destroyed by a rash of books, television programmes and other publicity since the Gulf war.

SAS troopers have been tempted to emulate former members Andy McNab and Chris Ryan who have earned fortunes from the sales of their books - Bravo Two Zero and The One That Got Away. "Each book, or piece of work, taken by itself does not reveal a great deal," one defence source said. "But, taken together, they allow a fairly clear picture to emerge of some of our tactics and methods."

The contract involves a lifelong obligation under civil law not to disclose any unauthorised information about the activities of the special forces. Anyone who breaks the terms of the contract could be served with a writ for damages by the Ministry of Defence.

MoD sources said the contract is intended to plug a loophole in existing regulations covering disclosure of information, including the 1989 Official Secrets Act, which covers members of the special forces. Under the Act, it is a criminal offence to publish certain types of information but MoD lawyers have had difficulty showing that it applies in the case of the material written by former SAS troopers.

It is expected that a contract signed by members of the SAS, SBS, territorial SAS and a few other small covert intelligence units will be more enforceable.

If a member or future member of the special forces refuses to sign the contract they will be dismissed from special forces and returned to their original unit.

In May a group of former SAS members who took part in a television programme, SAS: The Soldiers' Story, accused senior officers of hypocrisy. They said officers such as Gen Sir Peter de la Billiere, regarded as the godfather of the modern regiment, were allowed to profit from books referring to his SAS experiences while the men were not.

Gen de le Billiere has written two autobiographical books which make some references to the SAS but both books were sent to the MoD for clearance. In this year's defence White Paper the MoD broke with tradition by devoting half a page to the SAS, an institution about which it normally makes no comment.

Under the title "Disclosure of Information on Special Forces", the White Paper said it would use "all appropriate legal options" to prevent publication of details believed to be damaging to the SAS and SBS.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1996.