IRA denies Colombia terror links

IRA's alleged links with Colombia rebels under scrutiny

The IRA has denied any involvement with left-wing guerrillas in Colombia ahead of a US Congressional hearing into alleged links between the two groups.

In a statement on Wednesday, the IRA again said its leadership had sent "no-one to Colombia to train or to engage in any military co-operation with any group".

The statement came a few hours before a House of Representatives' International Relations Committee hearing into links between the IRA and the FARC rebels began in Washington.

The IRA has not interfered in the internal affairs of Colombia

IRA statement

The IRA said the arrest of three Irishmen in Colombia last August on suspicion of training FARC rebels had been "used again in an intense way by opponents of the peace process in Ireland and Britain".

It said this was an "attempt to undermine and subvert the democratic peace process".

It added: "The IRA has not interfered in the internal affairs of Colombia and will not do so."

The IRA said it was "fully committed to a successful outcome of the Irish peace process" and was no threat to that process.

The statement repeated the IRA's denial of links with Colombia which it made shortly after the men were arrested.

Wednesday's statement came after a US Congress report said the IRA had formed part of a global terror network based in Colombia where it helped train guerrilla groups.

The report said American lives were being put at risk by Provisional IRA activity in Colombia, and that both Colombian democracy and US national security were threatened.

The report said that, according to Colombian authorities, not only had the IRA operated on behalf of the FARC, but also the Iranians, Cubans and possibly Basque separatist movement ETA.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was asked to appear before the committee, but declined.

Gerry Adams refused to address the hearing

Mr Adams defended his decision earlier on Wednesday.

He said he would liked to have attended the hearing but felt it would prejudice the forthcoming trial of the three Irish men. He also insisted that Sinn Fein did not have a case to answer.

The committee is expected to hear evidence from at least one key Colombian security figure, who will offer a view as to what the three Irishmen were doing in a demilitarised zone in Colombia.

The director of the US Drug Enforcement Agency, just back from Colombia, will give evidence as well as a representative from the counter-terrorism section of the State Department.

After the arrest of Jim Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly in Colombia, Sinn Fein initially denied that Mr Connolly was its political representative in Cuba.

When it became apparent that this was untrue, the party said it had made a mistake.

'Framed'

Last month, Colombian prosecutors formally charged the three suspects - two from Republic of Ireland and one from Northern Ireland - with teaching bomb-making to Marxist rebels, bringing the men's trial a significant step closer.

The men have all denied links with the IRA or Colombian guerrillas.

They have said they have been "framed as part of attempts to damage peace talks between the government and rebels".

FARC and other terrorist groups in Colombia are thought to be responsible for 90% of the cocaine and 70% of the heroin sold on America's streets.