Key witness disappears in Colombia

It has been revealed that a key witness in the case against three Irish republicans detained in Colombia has disappeared.

The news comes in the wake of an admission from Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams that one of the men, Niall Connolly, was the party’s representative in Cuba.

Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan were charged in August this year with training Marxist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in urban terrorism and carrying false passports.

The missing witness, a former police inspector, claimed he had seen Mr McCauley with FARC guerrillas in 1998. It has been reported that without this vital testimony the chances of convicting the three men are reduced. Circumstantial and forensic evidence suggesting the men had been in contact with explosives while with the guerrillas would not be enough to convict them on terrorism charges.

On Monday October 22, Mr Adams said Mr Connolly was appointed as Sinn Féin's representative in Cuba without his knowledge or the authorisation of the international department of his party.

The party had previously denied claims by the Cuban authorities that Mr Connolly was their representative. But Mr Adams confirmed that an internal investigation revealed “one of our senior members asked Niall Connolly to represent the party in Cuba”.

In a statement Mr Adams said: “This decision was taken without the knowledge or authorisation of the international department or any other party structure including the party chairperson or myself. Proper procedures were not employed in this case. These procedures have now been reviewed to ensure that this unfortunate situation does not arise again.” (AMcE)