Andrews to visit Irishmen arrested in Colombia

Former Foreign Minister David Andrews will travel to Colombia this week to visit the three Irishmen arrested in the country last August on suspicion of training a rebel army which has been fighting the government for 38 years.

Mr Andrews is travelling to the country in his capacity as chairman of the Irish Red Cross Society at the request of the family of Niall Connolly, one of the detainees.

He said he would like to see first-hand the conditions under which Mr Connolly is being held along with James Monaghan and Martin McCauley.

All three men have links with either Sinn Fein or the Provisional IRA.