A US Congressional Committee in Washington has been told that the Colombian Government believes it has evidence that the three Irishmen arrested there last August were providign explosives training to FARC guerrillas.
It claimed that as many as 15 individuals linked to the IRA had been operating in Colombia over the past three years. The committee chairman, Henry Hynde, said he accepted Gerry Adams's claim that Sinn Fein knew nothing about the activities of the three in custody.
Four members of the committee strongly criticised today's hearing, claiming there was no new evidence to prove an IRA link. Earlier today the IRA again denied that it sent any of its members to train or engage with any guerrilla group in Colombia.
Meanwhile Gerry Adams defended his decision not to attend the congressional hearing. Speaking on RTÉ Radio, the Sinn Féin President said his political instinct had been to agree to the request to attend.
He said the solicitor acting for three alleged IRA men detained in Colombia had advised him that the hearings could be prejudicial to their chances of a fair trial. The hearing is entitled International Global Terrorism and its links with illicit drugs, as illustrated by the IRA and other groups in Colombia.
In London, David Trimble says he has no reason to doubt the police view that republicans were responsible for the break-in at Castlereagh and that this was a breach of the IRA's ceasefire.
Speaking on his way into a meeting in Downing Street with Tony Blair, Mr Trimble said serious questions had to be addressed about both Castlereagh and the alleged IRA activities in Colombia.
Mr Trimble said he would be urging the Prime Minister to discharge his responsibility in dealing with Sinn Fein.
