Three suspected IRA members held in Colombia

The alleged IRA members are beling held by Colombian authorities

By Karl Penhaul

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Authorities here have arrested three suspected members of the Irish Republican Army for allegedly helping train Colombian guerrillas, army officials announced Monday.

The three men were arrested Saturday at Bogota International Airport. The Colombian army said British intelligence sources told them all three were members of the IRA in Northern Ireland.

"We have contacted the [British] authorities and these people are registered members of the IRA with a terrorist past," said Defense Minister Gustavo Bell at a news conference Monday.

Two of the men, identified as James Monaghan and Martin McCauley, have previous convictions in Britain, jailed for activities linked to the IRA, the Colombian army said. Monaghan spent a total of 12 years in prison on three separate convictions.

They were traveling on false passports, along with a third man whose real name was not yet known.

There were no outstanding warrants for the three, the Colombian army said, and so far there have been no extradition requests. British authorities said they were checking the matter.

Bell said the men are all explosives experts and were members of the IRA's "engineering department," a euphemism for the group's bomb-making division. He said they were in the country helping the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the largest of the country's two main rebel groups.

IN DEPTH Colombia: War without end

"Everything seems to indicate that these men were in the demilitarized zone giving courses on explosives and the handling of explosives," Bell said.

The Colombian army alleges the three entered the country in June and spent five weeks in the demilitarized zone in southeastern Colombia, a Switzerland-size region that has been handed over to FARC for the purposes of peace talks with the government.

The army said they were training FARC guerrillas in the use of explosives, the manufacture of car bombs, and the manufacture of homemade weapons, including mortars.

Tests conducted on the men's clothing turned up traces of four different kinds of explosives, as well as cocaine and amphetamines, the army said.

"We presume that the paybacks for these terrorists could be in drugs, in money to support the IRA, or in help buying arms," said Gen. Jorge Mora, commander of the Colombian Army.

The men have not been charged. In accordance with Colombian law,authorities have five days to decide what charges to bring.

A member of Colombia's chief prosecutor's office said the three would likely be charged with using false documents, which carries a sentence of four to eight years in prison. They may also face charges of training, organizing and equipping illegal arms groups -- which carries 15 to 20 years.

Authorities were holding the men at a military police base in Bogota. They were scheduled to appear in a closed court session Tuesday.

This marks the first time accused international terrorists have been arrested in Colombia in connection with allegedly training guerrillas.