Victims' group to protest over 'Colombia Three' at Dail

South Armagh-based victims' group Fair is to organise a protest outside the Dáil over the return to Ireland of the Colombia Three…

South Armagh-based victims' group Fair is to organise a protest outside the Dáil over the return to Ireland of the Colombia Three".

William Frazer, director of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives, travels to Colombia today with DUP Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson to meet victims of the Farc rebel group's campaign.

They plan to speak with senior government, military and diplomatic figures during a series of meetings next week.

The group will also meet families of victims of the Farc which, it alleges, has been assisted in its campaign by the IRA.

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Mr Frazer told The Irish Times last night he hopes to host a return visit, perhaps next month, which will entail a protest at Leinster House and meetings with MPs at Westminster.

He said: "The trip was originally organised at the invitation of several contacts in Colombia. We felt it was a great opportunity to develop links with terror victims in a worldwide context.

"Our aim is to establish a world network of victims' organisations, seeking justice and working in the interests of those innocents affected by terror."

"People in large parts of Colombia have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists, just like the minority border community in Northern Ireland," he said.

"We are assured that we will be shocked by what we see and that the similarities between Provisional IRA techniques and Farc techniques are non-coincidental. I trust this visit will be beneficial to victims in both countries."

Fair has been pressing for the return of the "Colombia Three" to Bogota since the men arrived back in Ireland last month.

The group has called for the three men, Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, to be sent back to Colombia, where they were accused of training Farc guerrillas and sentenced to 17 years in jail.