'Colombia Three' urged to meet Farc victims

A victims' group which is to travel to Colombia with DUP Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson has challenged the "Colombia Three…

A victims' group which is to travel to Colombia with DUP Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson has challenged the "Colombia Three" to meet victims of the Farc organisation.

William Frazer of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (Fair), said his group was planning to bring victims of Farc violence to Britain and Ireland.

On Sunday week Mr Frazer, with Fair colleague William Wilkinson and Mr Donaldson, will fly to Colombia to meet members of the government and security chiefs to discuss Farc.

In October Fair plans to bring victims of Farc to Westminster and then to Leinster House "to highlight the operations of Farc and how they used IRA mortar technology to kill scores of innocent people", said Mr Frazer, whose father, two uncles and two cousins were murdered by the IRA.

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Mr Frazer said there was "clear evidence" that the IRA trained Farc guerrillas in new mortar technology. "We want to bring the victims of Farc to Westminster and to the doorstep of the Dáil to show what has happened to them because of IRA training.

"We will also be using this visit to put pressure on the Irish Government to extradite the so-called Colombia Three back to Colombia," he added.

Caitríona Ruane of the Bring Them Home group, which campaigned for the return of the men to Ireland, accused Mr Frazer and Mr Donaldson of engaging in stunt politics. "These men were wrongly convicted. They are victims of a miscarriage of justice. There is no evidence that they were training Farc."

Ms Ruane asked what were Mr Donaldson and Mr Frazer doing to combat sectarian attacks on Catholics. "Rather than engaging in stunt politics they would be better off trying to get the political process up and running".