Colombia Three trial set for October

Jim Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were arrested at Bogota's international airport last August for allegedly teaching bomb-making techniques to the FARC guerrilla group.

They are now being held in a high-security jail in Bogota. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.

The three have denied links with the IRA and have accused foreign intelligence agencies of inventing the charges.

A spokesman for the Colombian public prosecutor's office said the trial would be presided over by a judge who specialised in cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking and kidnapping.