The new documents show that in September 1984 foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe's private secretary, Peter Ricketts, wrote to David Barclay, private secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about a request to allow a British company with SAS connections to work in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan government under President J R Jayewardene was then tackling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces and other groups in the north and east of the island nation.
Ricketts wrote: "The Sri Lankan government have engaged another British company (name removed) to provide training in counter-terrorist techniques … The presence of (the company's) employees, including some ex-SAS personnel, in Sri Lanka, has aroused controversy and the Indian government have expressed concern to us about the firm's involvement.
“We have made it clear that this is a purely commercial matter and that HMG (Her Majesty's Government) are not involved.”
The firm was allowed to continue working in Sri Lanka.
