Colombia grants amnesty to alleged IRA bomb-making trio

Men fled country while on bail after their arrest in 2001 and a highly-publicised trial

Three alleged IRA members accused of training Colombian rebels in bomb-making techniques have been granted amnesty nearly two decades after they were arrested, as part of the South American nation's ongoing peace process.

Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley, who became known as the Colombia Three, were arrested at Bogoti's El Dorado airport in 2001. They were charged with travelling on false documents and teaching members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or Farc) how to build improvised mortar bombs.