Irish priest's brother welcomes statement

The brother of an Irish priest serving in the Colombian village where a massacre took place last month has welcomed yesterday's statement from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, condemning the atrocity.

Father Brendan Forde ministers to the villagers of La Union where the massacre of male civilians between the ages of 25 and 40 by combined military and paramilitary forces occurred on July 8th. There have been threats of further massacres there. Father Forde's brother, Mr Kieran Forde, said: "We expect that Mr Cowen's actions and statement will contribute to the immediate protection of Father Brendan and the community of La Union in Colombia.

"We welcome his bringing this issue to the attention of the Colombian government, the international community and particularly the US administration."

Mr Cowen said: "I condemn all human rights abuses, as well as acts of terrorism and breaches of international humanitarian law, and I would place particular emphasis on the need to bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice."

The Minister said he had written about the matter to Dr Guillermo Fernandez de Soto, the Colombian Foreign Minister.