Colombia reaction: News of the re-emergence in Ireland of the "Colombia Three" broke on Friday afternoon. Evening news bulletins carried excerpts from the RTÉ interview with Jim Monaghan. It is expected that Colombia will request the extradition as early as today.
In a statement, Colombia's vice president, Francisco Santos, said: "Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern must demonstrate his country's commitment to the global fight against terrorism."
Mr Santos also said: "A Colombian court issued its verdict that confirmed what we believed from the start: that they were three IRA terrorists, explosives experts, who came to Colombia to train Marxist rebels in urban terrorism techniques."
Justice and interior minister Sabas Pretelt de la Vega said the Colombian government is studying mechanisms to bring the men back. The government "could not stand by with its arms crossed", he added.
Yesterday, Luz Miriam Rodriguez, director of operations of the Administrative Security Department, the Colombian security police, told The Irish Times she would be asking the Colombian embassy in London today to formally request the extradition of the three men. She acknowledged this could take some time.
Referring to Mr Jim Monaghan's comment on Irish television that he believed the men did not consider themselves to be on the run, she asked: "If that's the case, then why did they leave Colombia illegally?"
She said officials from the security department had been preparing paperwork related to the case during the weekend.
Colombia's new attorney general, Mario Iguaran, who took office last week, said in a statement: "International mechanisms do exist that enable us to issue an extradition request."
Commenting on the extradition of the men, Eduardo Matias, who represented Niall Connolly during the trial, said that although there was no extradition treaty between Ireland and Colombia, it would be up to the Irish authorities to evaluate the request before making a decision. There was no obligation to send the men back, Mr Matias added.