The trial of three Irish people charged with terrorist offences and sending weapons from Florida for use in Northern Ireland opens in a federal court in Fort Lauderdale today.
The prosecution claimed at a bail hearing last August that one of the defendants admitted he was on "an arms procurement mission" to buy guns for the IRA because the Northern Ireland peace process had "failed".
It has been reported that Senator George Mitchell may be called as a witness to testify about the peace process in which he played a key role.
The claim of IRA involvement, which was challenged by a defence lawyer, came at a sensitive time in negotiations to set up the power-sharing institutions in return for movement on decommissioning weapons by the IRA.
The IRA later issued a statement saying the operation had not been sanctioned by the IRA's "army council". But this left open the possibility that it was organised at a lower level.
The three defendants face possible life sentences if found guilty. They are Mr Conor Claxton and Mr Martin Mullan from Northern Ireland, and Mr Anthony Smyth, who was born in Belfast but has been living in Florida for 11 years.
A fourth defendant, Ms Siobhan Browne from Co Cork, who has also been living in Florida for years, has already pleaded guilty to lesser charges and will be sentenced next month.
Mr Smyth, Ms Browne and Mr Claxton were arrested at addresses in Fort Lauderdale on July 26th 1999 and charged with conspiring to send weapons and ammunition illegally by post to Ireland.
Mr Martin Mullan was arrested the next day in Philadelphia and brought to Fort Lauderdale to face similar charges.
The arrests and charges followed the discovery at a British airport of packages containing guns and ammunition posted from south Florida. The packages were labelled as containing toys, baby clothes, stereo equipment and computers.
In evidence, the FBI said it had been watching Ms Browne from the previous March, after she bought firearms from five gun dealers around Fort Lauderdale. One of these dealers, Mr Edward Bluestein, has also been charged with offences arising from these purchases.
At the bail hearing last August the Assistant US Attorney, Mr Richard Scruggs, opposed bail. He said Mr Claxton was a "danger" as he had said that the IRA was "his job" and that this was a "procurements operation directed by higher-ups in Ireland". Mr Claxton would not have been involved "without higher authority", Mr Scruggs said, and the weapons were to be used against "British troops, the RUC and Protestant paramilitary groups".
Outside the courtroom, Mr Scruggs told reporters that Mr Claxton was not referring to a breakaway group but to the "Provisional IRA". Mr Claxton's lawyer later challenged the accuracy of these claims and said the FBI agent, Mr Mark Hastbacka, who had interrogated Mr Claxton had not taped it and his notes of the interview had not been produced in court.
Bail was refused for all four defendants. In January the prosecution, in a 59-count "superseding indictment" added charges of "providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder and maim individuals in Northern Ireland". The indictment said that from around January 1999 until their arrests in July the defendants obtained over 90 handguns and shotguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, including .50 calibre armour-piercing ammunition. The defendants had hidden the weapons and ammunition inside toys, stereo equipment and computer equipment before mailing them to addresses in the Republic of Ireland. From these addresses, individuals were to pick up weapons and ammunition and transport them across the Border into Northern Ireland, the indictment says.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.