Colombia's arrest of three men with alleged links to Northern Ireland guerrillas seemed certain on Tuesday to jolt the British province's already troubled peace process.
Colombian authorities said on Monday they did not know if the men belonged to the Irish Republican Army or a splinter group such as the Real IRA. Army chief General Jorge Enrique Mora said the men had been training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the South American state's largest guerrilla group, in "terrorist acts, the handling and manipulation of explosives and the fabrication of non-conventional weapons."
News of the arrests comes at a time when Britain and Ireland are mounting fresh efforts to take the gun out of Northern Ireland politics and seal a lasting peace between the Protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority. If the men belong to the IRA, it would raise serious questions about the guerrilla group's commitment to Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace accord.
The IRA is officially observing a cease-fire and only last week pledged to put its weapons "completely and verifiably beyond use." It gave no timetable. Bureau Report