THE VICE-PRESIDENT of Colombia has called for the extradition of the Colombia Three, saying the matter is a "thorn" in relations between Bogota and Dublin.
Speaking with The Irish Timesat a conference on tackling drugs in Belfast, Francisco Santos Calderon claimed the three men arrested in Colombia in 2001 - Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley - had aided the paramilitary group Farc before being captured, tried and sentenced. He explained that they were known as the "Ireland Three" in his country.
The three fled Colombia and returned to Ireland in 2005 despite being instructed to remain in Colombia pending the outcome of a second trial which sentenced them to 17 years in prison. The three men were questioned by gardaí but there have been no moves to extradite them despite an Interpol arrest warrant.
"The 'Ireland Three' have been sentenced in Colombia; they taught the Farc how to design explosives," said Mr Santos during a break from the conference of senior police officers from UK police forces and the Garda.
He said that one bomb attack that used "trademark" IRA techniques "killed more than 24 people in Bogota. We saw a new technique in bomb making that we had never seen in Colombia before".
Calling for the Irish Government to act he said: "We will keep pushing for the extradition and we will keep pushing so that they will pay for their crimes. Hundreds of Colombians were killed with the teachings that those guys gave the Farc. It is something that we in Colombia remember very clearly and there is still some debt to be paid." He said he was sure that the trio were responsible for passing on new bomb-making techniques.
Asked about Colombian relations with the Government, Mr Santos said: "There are good relations but certainly there is a thorn in there. There is a thorn that we want to take out of the relationship and the only way to do that is if those guys are given up." There is no extradition treaty between Ireland and Colombia, but Mr Santos suggested the problem could be circumvented by sending the men to the UK, which does have a treaty with Colombia.