'Colombia Three' trial begins in Bogota

UPDATE: The trial of the three suspected IRA men arrested at an airport in Colombia for allegedly training Marxist Farc guerrillas last year was postponed on Friday when the three accused men refused to leave their cells.

Proceedings in the case against Niall Connolly, Martin McAuley and James Monaghan, dubbed the 'Colombia Three', were restricted to an outline of the case. The trail has been rescheduled for October 16.

The three are charged in connection with the training and exchange of bomb-making techniques with the anti-government Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). If convicted they could face up to 16 years in prison, and if it goes the distance the trial could last until the new year.

It has been established that Monaghan and McAuley have been arrested by the RUC in connection with IRA activity and, despite initial denials, Sinn Fein admitted two months after the arrests that Connolly was their party representative in Cuba.

The trial could have far-reaching implications in terms of the peace process in Northern Ireland and the how the republican movement is viewed internationally.

The US has taken a stern view of the development and the court case is sure to be monitored closely by Washington. The US government has already stated its belief that the three men are members of the IRA.

On March of this year, US Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Rand Beers told a Senate committee that: "There are strong indications that the Farc has established links with the Irish Republican Army to increase its capability to conduct urban terrorism. In July 2001, the Colombian National Police arrested three members of the IRA who are believed to have used the demilitarised zone to train the Farc in the use of explosives."

The Marxist group, which was established in the mid-60s and is estimated to have up to 12,000 paramilitary volunteers, is outspoken in its opposition to the US.

The Farc constitution calls for an end to "state terrorism, the injustices, inequalities, unemployment and the humiliation before US imperialism".

Farc, variously described as narco-terrorists - a claim the group rejects – blame the US as the guiding power in drugs trafficking. According to Farc's Secretariat of the Central General Staff: "The narcotics traffic is a phenomenon of globalised capitalism and of the Yankees above all. It is not the Farc's problem. We reject it."

Amnesty International has expressed reservations that the three men will receive a fair trial in a country which it has long campaigned against for its "poor human rights record".

(GMcG)