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Ira farc Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/24/adams.colombia/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/24/adams.colombia/index.html Adams' U.S. inquiry snub attacked BELFAST, Northern Ireland --Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been criticised on both sides of the Atlantic for refusing to take the stand at a Congressional inquiry into alleged IRA links with Colombian rebels. The West Belfast MP was last month invited to go before the committee in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the alleged activities of three suspected Irish Republican Army members arrested last August. But Adams decided not to appear, citing fears that his testimony could prejudice the trial of the three men facing charges in Columbia of training Marxist FARC rebels. Congressman Henry Hyde, chairman of the committee looking into the affair, insisted it was in the "US national interest" and Adams should give evidence. Adams was also criticised by former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton who questioned whether the Sinn Fein leader would ever be taken seriously again in Washington. Bruton was quoted by UK news agency the Press Association as saying: "His refusal to appear only raises suspicions and this is not in the interests of the three men in question." Ulster Unionists also accused Adams of "running scared" of the U.S. House of Representatives' International Relations Committee. Later on Wednesday a report is expected to be released by the U.S. Congress that will claim the IRA has formed part of a global terror network based in Colombia, training Marxist rebels alongside Iranian and Cuban officials, news agencies reported. A spokesman for Congressman Hyde accused two of the three Irishmen awaiting trial in Colombia of being explosives experts. Sinn Fein minister Martin McGuinness hit back, accusing the veteran U.S. politician of issuing a "shocking statement" which would "seriously prejudice any possibility that these people will receive a fair trial." Congressmen had wanted to question Adams on the arrests of the three men in Colombia -- James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley -- on suspicion of training FARC rebels. But in a letter to Congressman Hyde, the Sinn Fein president offered to meet the committee when he was next in Washington and added: "I am particularly concerned at the way anti-peace process elements in Britain and Ireland have seized upon the hearings to damage the peace process itself. "I also have serious concerns about the arrest of the three Irish citizens in Colombia and the way these arrests are being brought into a wider agenda in that region. "Not only does their detention by the Colombian authorities constitute a possible miscarriage of justice, but their arrests are undoubtedly being used to undermine Sinn Fein's contribution to the peace process in Ireland and our efforts to advance it further." In a hard-hitting response, Congressman Hyde said Adams had been offered an opportunity to explain "why two IRA explosives experts and a Sinn Fein political officer stationed in Cuba were arrested last August following a visit to a safe haven" controlled by FARC which is a designated terrorist group. "FARC and other narco-terrorist groups in Colombia are responsible for 90% of the cocaine and 70% of the heroin sold on America's streets," he was quoted by PA as saying. "Terrorism imperils Colombian democracy, and the alleged IRA role in helping groups like the FARC to perpetuate this violence poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests."

38 year war Aggresive us backed colombia strategy expected to be brutal { January 25 2004 } Blast rocks elite club { February 8 2003 } Colombia albright Colombia burning { May 31 2002 } Colombian leader says peasant killing was accident { April 13 2004 } Combatants { July 31 2001 } Drug war { December 27 2002 } Explosions capital { August 8 2002 } Farc inside Farc terror Five americans soldiers detained for smuggling cocaine Ira farc Land reform Ny stock exchange richard grasso met farc Occidental oil bombs civilians { January 9 2003 } Opium colombia Plan colombia seen as failing { July 12 2003 } Plane goes down { February 14 2003 } Punish colombia airforce { November 16 2002 } State of emergency Troops kill 5 they mistook for rebels { April 12 2004 } Unabridged military relationship { February 7 2003 } Us aids paramilitaries { May 17 2001 } Us captive pows { February 25 2003 } US deals with colombians linked to death squads Us heading deeper { May 3 2002 } Us releases aid colombia { July 9 2003 } US soldiers trafficing arms to paramilitary groups { May 5 2005 } War in colombia unnoticed { September 29 2003 } War tax Files Listed: 31

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