[OG Note: IRA funds in Ireland have long been derived from extortion, blackmail, kidnappings and, more recently, drugs.]

BBC Monday, 13 August, 2001, 19:12 GMT 20:12 UK Republicans held in Colombia The men were arrested in Bogota Three people, thought to be Irish Republicans, have been arrested in South America, an armed forces spokeswoman has confirmed.

The men were detained in Colombia as they left an area controlled by the revolutionary Colombian paramilitary group the FARC, she said.

Two of the men were travelling on British passports and one on Irish documents - all are believed to be false.

It is not clear at this stage if the arrests are linked to either the Provisional IRA or the Real IRA.

If it emerges that they are linked to the Provisional IRA, it could have implications for the Northern Ireland peace process and the lengthy negotiations about IRA arms decommissioning.

The three men are being held for questioning in Colombia's capital, Bogota.

Identities

The arrests were made by a specialist investigative branch of the Colombian Police, known as the Fiscalia, at the weekend.

Although no statement about the exact circumstances of the arrests has yet been made, there have been some reports that the three men may have had contact with the FARC.

The FARC controls a large of segment of the country and is involved in drug-running.

It is not known at this stage whether the arrests have any connection with either drugs or guns.

The BBC's Ireland correspondent Mark Devenport said it was understood that a forensic examination of the men's clothing would be made.

He said the circumstances of the arrests were unclear, but added: "Unionists, however, are already asking questions, saying if it does involve drug-running there will be implications for the peace process."

The Colombian authorities and the RUC are liaising on fingerprint and photographic data in an attempt to establish the detainees' identities.

Peter Robinson, deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said he had been alerted to the development by British intelligence sources.

-- Anonymous, August 13, 2001

Answers

[OG NOTE: A Telegraph report says that Gerry Adams is due to visit South America shortly. You have to ask--why? What does South America have to offer to the leader of Sinn Fein, the IRA's propaganda arm? And now we have these three arrests in that region. We know that the IRA has done business with other terrorists, such as Kaddafi, so why not stay with those folks? Could it be they want to help the Colombian terrorists to destabilize South America? It would be in character, you know. The IRA is, and has been for a number of decades, a Marxist group. The only reason you never hear them say a word against the US is a good deal of their financing comes from US groups like NORAID and they do not want to jeopardize that funding.]

Tuesday August 14 12:09 AM ET

Colombia Arrests Likely to Hit N.Irish Peace Drive

By Ralph Gowling

LONDON (Reuters) - Colombia's arrest of three men with alleged links to Northern Ireland guerrillas seemed certain on Tuesday to jolt the British province's already troubled peace process.

Colombian authorities said on Monday they did not know if the men belonged to the Irish Republican Army or a splinter group such as the Real IRA.

Army chief General Jorge Enrique Mora said the men had been training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the South American state's largest guerrilla group, in ``terrorist acts, the handling and manipulation of explosives and the fabrication of non-conventional weapons.''

News of the arrests comes at a time when Britain and Ireland are mounting fresh efforts to take the gun out of Northern Ireland politics and seal a lasting peace between the Protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority.

If the men belong to the IRA, it would raise serious questions about the guerrilla group's commitment to Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace accord.

The IRA is officially observing a cease-fire and only last week pledged to put its weapons ``completely and verifiably beyond use.'' It gave no timetable.

[OG Note: From what I understand, this means they will put the weapons in sealed concrete bunkers. Pardon me while I snort. Yeah, right, so these jokers, skilled in the use of blowing up things--like concrete bunkers--are going to put their weapons in concrete bunkers. Why not just run a bulldozer over them a couple of times?]

PEACE PROCESS IN JEOPARDY

The peace process is in jeopardy because Protestant politicians have dismissed the IRA's pledge as just words.

The Protestants want to see actual disarmament before they will go back into a full-scale, power-sharing arrangement with Catholics.

If the men belong to the Real IRA, it would suggest the group is expanding a network of contacts across the world that could boost its ability to step up a bombing campaign.

The Real IRA, which opposes the Good Friday accord, has been blamed for a number of bomb blasts in Northern Ireland and on the British mainland over the past year.

Irish republican leader Gerry Adams challenged Britain on Monday to end the crisis in the peace process by implementing radical policing changes and scaling down its military presence in the province.

A day after Britain briefly suspended Northern Ireland's home-rule government, Adams piled pressure on London to flesh out plans for reviving the Good Friday accord that ended years of direct rule from London.

But Adams, who leads the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein, told a news conference he had no information to offer on whether the guerrilla group would remain in talks on disarmament.

``I don't know and I'm sure that organization will in its own time make its own position clear,'' Adams said when asked about speculation that the IRA might withdraw from talks in protest at the assembly's brief suspension.

Britain used a legal loophole that allowed it to buy time for more talks on saving the pact by freezing for just a day the province's government -- a key creation of the Good Friday accord.

But feuding pro-Irish Roman Catholic and pro-British Protestant parties are more polarized than ever, despite a rescue formula put forward by London and Dublin.

Last week, the IRA agreed a confidential method of disposing of its weapons in talks with the province's disarmament chief, retired Canadian general John de Chastelain.

London and Dublin hailed the IRA offer as a major step toward a formula to stabilize the accord. But Protestant Unionists said they wanted action not promises from the IRA, whose failure to disarm has been a major stumbling block.

The Good Friday accord was signed to end guerrilla conflict over Britain's right to rule the province. Some 3,600 people on all sides died in 30 years of strife until cease-fires by the IRA and other groups.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Well, there are still a lot of Irish who are angry with the English for coming in and forcing them off their ancestral lands.

Or so I've been told.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Don't go there or I'll bring up in detail the analogy of Native Americans, who were "forced off their ancestral lands" much more recently than anyone in Ireland!

In the twenties the Irish freely agreed to split the country, ceding a small portion (the 6 northernmost counties of the 32) to the British, where the majority of the settlers (most from Scotland) were Protestant. Referendums are held regularly to determine the will of the legally-resident people and a majority consistently votes overwhelmingly to remain with Britain. (Usually about two-thirds to one-third, as I recall.)

Britain really doesn't want Northern Ireland--it costs far too much, for one thing, with grants and social services much more plentiful and expensive than in the rest of Britain. (Not to mention keeping troops over there in an attempt to stop the Protestants and Catholics from killing each other.) However, as long as a majority of the legal residents of the area want to remain with Britain, there's not much else to be done, except to try and negotiate peaceful coexistence between the extremists on both sides. (Ain't gonna happen!)

The important thing to remember is the IRA wants to transform the whole of Ireland (not just the British north) into a People's Republic of Ireland. The southern Irish Catholics don't want them, either. That bit gets lost in most reports but it's true. You might be able to find a hint of it in their newspaper if you search long enough, An Phoblact, which is probably on-line.

For further understanding, I heartily recommend the book on the hunger strikers--can't remember the title, "The Irish Hunger Strike," I think. It was written by one of the strikers and served only to convince me that the IRA was the wrong side. This is not the IRA of my grandfather and great-grandfather, this is a Marxist thugs group, no better than the Bader Meinhoff or the Symbionese Liberation Army or any of that ilk. The Protestant leader Ian Paisley and his followers are just as bad as the IRA.

BTW, my mother was from a County Cork Irish Catholic family.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

http://w ww.towson.edu/polsci/ppp/sp97/terror/groups.html

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

a.k.a.: Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), The Provos

Description:

Radical terrorist group formed in 1969 as clandestine armed wing of Sinn Fein, a legal political movement dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland. Has a Marxist orientation. Organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.

Activities: Bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, extortion, and robberies. Before its 1994 cease-fire, targets included senior British Government officials, British military and police in Northern Ireland, and Northern Irish Loyalist paramilitary groups. Since breaking its cease-fire in February 1996, IRA's operations have included bombing campaigns against train and subway stations and shopping areas on mainland Britain, British military and Royal Ulster Constabulary targets in Northern Ireland, and a British military facility on the European continent.

Strength: Several hundred, plus several thousand sympathizers.

Location/Area of Operation: Northern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, and Europe.

External Aid: Has received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and, at one time, the PLO. Also is suspected of receiving funds and arms from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA [Basque terrorist group, operating in Spain].

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001