Pubdate: Tue, 14 Aug 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: T. Christian Miller and Julie Tamaki, Times Staff Writers
Note: Miller reported from Bogota and Tamaki from London.

COLOMBIA ARRESTS 3 IRA MEMBERS

Latin America: Men From European Guerrilla Group Allegedly Provided 
Explosives Training To Leftist FARC Rebels.

BOGOTA, Colombia -- In a danger sign for peace talks on two continents, 
three members of the Irish Republican Army were being held here Monday 
after allegedly providing explosives training to Colombia's largest leftist 
rebel group.

Military officials said the three men were captured at the airport in 
Bogota on Saturday after spending five weeks in the demilitarized zone in 
southern Colombia where the government is negotiating with the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The arrests point to the increasingly international nature of Colombia's 
internal conflict in recent years as the FARC, enriched by drug-trafficking 
and kidnapping revenue, has reached out to buy arms, training and support. 
The arrests also indicate that the demilitarized zone, created with great 
hope nearly three years ago to advance peace talks, has instead become a 
haven for the FARC's guerrilla operations.

"Every day, the tendency of subversive groups in Colombia is more toward 
terrorism," Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora, commander of Colombia's army, said 
Monday at a news conference announcing the arrests. "Every day, their 
terrorist attacks against the civilian population are worsening."

The seizure of the men also raised new questions about the peace process in 
the British province of Northern Ireland, where Roman Catholic 
"republicans" who want union with Ireland have been fighting for decades 
with Protestants who wish to remain part of Britain. The IRA has lately 
been engaged in talks with a disarmament commission aimed at getting it to 
lay down its weapons.

A Protestant leader involved in negotiations with Sinn Fein, the political 
arm of the IRA, said the reports would "seriously, if not fatally," 
undermine the peace process if they prove true.

"I call on [Sinn Fein leader] Gerry Adams to state categorically where the 
republican movement stands in relation to its commitment to . . . peace and 
democracy," said Reg Empey, the senior negotiator with the Ulster Unionist 
Party.

The three men allegedly entered Colombia five weeks ago bearing false 
passports from Britain and Ireland. The leader of the group, still 
unidentified late Monday, was said to have been carrying the passport of 
David Bracken, who died in infancy several years ago.

The two other men were identified as Martin McCauley and William Monaghan, 
both of whom have served time in Britain for their involvement with the 
IRA, Colombian officials said. British officials contacted Monday would not 
corroborate that information.

The men were apparently teaching members of the 30,000-strong FARC how to 
build car bombs and other explosive devices for use in Colombia's 
four-decade-old conflict.

In a disturbing sign of the increasingly common pairing of international 
arms trafficking and cocaine dealing, the three men wore clothes that 
contained traces of explosives, cocaine and methamphetamine, Colombian 
authorities said. They said it was unclear whether the men were paid for 
their help with money or drugs.

British and Irish authorities have been contacted about the arrests but had 
not made an extradition demand as of Monday. The men could also be tried in 
Colombia, where they could face 15 to 20 years in prison if convicted on 
charges of providing training in terrorist techniques to subversives.

Although the FARC is estimated to be making $300 million to $500 million a 
year from drug trafficking and kidnapping, it has shown surprisingly few 
signs of having heavy weaponry or advanced technology. Bombing attacks are 
normally carried out with crude, jerry-built explosive devices made from 
gas canisters.

Gen. Fernando Tapias, head of Colombia's joint chiefs of staff, said the 
armed forces are now bracing for more sophisticated rebel attacks.

The search for peace in Northern Ireland has faced a series of challenges 
in recent days, including a rejection by the Ulster Unionists, the 
province's largest Protestant party, of the IRA's latest pledge to ditch 
its weapons; the temporary suspension of the provincial assembly over the 
weekend; and fears that the IRA is about to withdraw its offer to disarm.

Sinn Fein leader Adams has called into question an assertion by John Reid, 
Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, that the parties are on the verge of 
reaching an agreement. Adams is scheduled to fly to Latin America in early 
September, apparently to attend a series of events.
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