Colombian investigators said today they would decide within five days whether to prosecute three Irishmen arrested on suspicion of training guerrillas in the use of explosives.
Mr Niall Connolly, Mr James Monaghan and Mr Martin McCauley were arrested in Bogota on Saturday on suspicion of training rebels from the Marxist guerilla group FARC and for holding false passports.
Prosecutors said they have five days to decide whether there is "probable cause" to keep the men in custody and formally open a criminal investigation.
With new allegations that the three men were training with explosives more powerful than Semtex, ministers in London, Belfast and Dublin fear the IRA's South American connection could wreck the foundering Northern peace process.
It was also alleged last night that Mr Connolly (36), from Dublin, has been Sinn Féin's Cuban link since 1996 and that he was involved in arranging Gerry Adams's eight-day visit to South America next month.
However, Sinn Féin said Mr Connolly was never a member and had no part in preparing for the Adams visit. A spokesman said: "None of the three men arrested in Colombia are members of Sinn Féin. They were not there on Sinn Féin business".
Sinn Féin chief whip Mr Alex Maskey denied any embarrassment over the arrests and said they were a useful reminder to people in Northern Ireland that a lot of organisations have not gone away.
PA