The President of Sinn Féin, Mr Gerry Adams has said he had been advised not to attend a US Congress hearing into possible links between the IRA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Mr Adams confirmed he had received the invitation from the US House of Representatives to testify at a public hearing in Washington in April, and said he was still considering a response.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, Adams said: "I have been advised very strongly not to go".
Referring to the upcoming general election expected to take place in early May, the Sinn Féin leader said he had not made his mind up at this time and that it wasn't the most pressing issue.
James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley are currently in prison in Colombia after they were detained on August 11 last year at Bogota International Airport.
The three have denied all charges and the IRA has denied they were members.
Earlier in March, Richard Haass, Washington's point man on Northern Ireland, warned Adams that the United States would not take any IRA links with FARC lightly.
"We have zero tolerance for any support for the FARC from the IRA or anyone else and if we were to discover any ongoing support it would raise deep, significant questions for US foreign policy," said Haas. AFP
