Venezuela's military helped the three IRA men who had been arrested in Colombia to escape back to Ireland in 2004

Venezuela's military helped the three IRA men who had been arrested in Colombia to escape back to Ireland in 2004 after they had been released on bail by the Colombian courts while awaiting trial. And security sources here believe Venezuela also facilitated the shipping of Semtex explosives to be used in the training of FARC and the manufacture of bombs and mortars between 1999 and 2001. FARC used the IRA-designed weapons to carry out attacks which killed hundreds of civilians, police and soldiers. Intelligence reports gathered by American and other intelligence agencies indicated that Venezuela played a key role in facilitating the IRA's training of FARC rebels.