One of the three Irishmen charged with training Colombian leftist rebels tobuild bombs was in Belfast at the time he was alleged to havebeen in the jungles of Colombia, according to a defence video.
The homemade video, presented in a Colombian court late yesterday during the trial of three suspected IRA members, showed Mr Jim Monaghan giving a briefspeech. The video was purported to have been taken February 22nd,2001.
A prosecution witness - a jailed defector of theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC - testified inFebruary he saw Mr Monaghan, Mr Niall Connolly and Mr Martin McCauleybetween February 5th and 25th showing rebels how to build explosivesand mortars in a former guerrilla stronghold.
The three men, who deny being IRA members, were arrested inAugust 2001 as they tried to leave Colombia using fakepassports.They admit to visiting a former FARC safe haven inthe jungle, but said they were enjoying wildlife and studyingColombia's peace process, which collapsed in 2002.
In the video, Mr Monaghan is seen talking for five minutesabout Northern Ireland's peace process to a small audience offormer republican prisoners in Belfast. The video shows thedate of February 22nd, 2001. The defence also presented what it saidwere sworn affidavits of witnesses to prove its authenticity.
The trio, being held in a maximum security prison outsideBogota, has refused to appear in court, saying conditions didnot exist for a fair trial.
They could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty ofcollaborating with the 17,000-member FARC - the largest rebelarmy fighting in Colombia's four-decade-old war.
PA