IRA-FARC links inquiry 'vindicated Sinn Fein' Adams
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has claimed a US Congressional inquiry into global terrorism had ‘‘vindicated’’ his party’s position - despite the IRA being accused of sending up to 15 members to train Marxist rebels in Colombia.
During hearings into links between the IRA and the Colombian terror organisation Farc in Washington yesterday, the House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee heard evidence that the Provisionals were part of a network of terrorists involving Cubans, Iranians and Basque separatists.
But Mr Adams, who rejected an invitation to attend the session, insisted Irish republicans had emerged unscathed.
He said: ‘‘(The) hearing in Washington has vindicated Sinn Fein’s position that we have no case to answer in respect of the allegations levelled against our party.’’
A nine-month investigation by the committee into the arrests last summer of three Irishmen Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan concluded the IRA sent 15 men between 1998 and 2001 to a zone described as a ‘‘potential breeding ground for international terror equalled perhaps only by Afghanistan’’.
In a statement, the IRA denied it sent anyone to ‘‘train or engage in any military cooperation with any group’’.
The US Congressional committee’s report said ‘‘up to 15 IRA-related individuals had visited the South American country in the past three years, some of whom were senior explosives experts and technicians’’.
The inquiry noted recent car bombings and mortar attacks by Farc were ‘‘strikingly similar to known IRA explosive techniques and practices.
‘‘Neither committee investigators nor the Colombians can find credible explanations for the increased, more sophisticated capacity for the specific terror tactics now being employed by the Farc, other than IRA training.’’
Mr Adams had turned down a call to attend the congressional hearing amid fears it might prejudice the trial of the three Irishmen, who have yet to face charges in court of training Farc guerrillas.
‘‘This concern has been fully justified. These three men should be sent home,’’ he insisted last night.
At the beginning of the hearings, committee chairman Henry Hyde accepted Mr Adams’s reasons for not attending and said he did not doubt his word.
Mr Hyde added that the hearing was not about the Irish peace process or the three Irish nationals indicted in Colombia but would focus on the impact on US national interests from the developments in Colombia.
In a blunt statement, he asked: ‘‘What are members of the IRA doing in Colombia?
‘‘Claims that these individuals were there for benign purposes - specifically for eco-tourism or for activities related to the Irish and Colombian peace processes - are an insult to our intelligence.’’
Though he welcomed Mr Hyde’s vote of trust in him, Mr Adams voiced concern that an account of separate discussions between him, Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness and the committee’s investigating council was not included in the report.
‘‘Neither was his (Mr Hyde’s) assertion to us that British Government representatives pressed for the hearing,’’ the West Belfast MP added.
Mr Adams also disclosed plans to hold talks with Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble in the next few days in a bid to steady the badly-shaken Northern Ireland peace process.
