BY CHRISTOPHER WALKER, DAVID ADAMS AND
                       DANIEL MCGRORY

                       SINN FEIN’S claim that it has no links
                       with the three IRA suspects arrested in
                       Colombia was exposed as a lie last night
                       when its old allies in Cuba admitted that
                       one of the men was working for the
                       republican party in Havana.

                       The disclosure that Niall Connolly has lived and worked in
                       Cuba for the past five years as Sinn Fein’s Latin America
                       representative will embarrass Gerry Adams and fellow
                       republicans who have strenuously denied any association
                       with the men.

                       Sinn Fein faces sanctions from its political opponents at
                       home and from Washington if it is proved that one of its
                       officials was involved in terrorist activities with Colombian
                       rebels. The main parties in the Irish Republic immediately
                       joined the nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland in
                       demanding an explanation.

                       Connolly, 36, from Co Dublin, James Monaghan and Martin
                       McCauley were arrested last Saturday after allegedly
                       training members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
                       Colombia (FARC) at a jungle camp.

                       There was doubt last night whether Mr Adams will now go
                       ahead with his visit to Havana later this month at the
                       beginning of his holiday to Latin America. Sinn Fein officials
                       refused to divulge his itinerary but it is believed that
                       Connolly was a key figure in setting up the trip, which
                       included a meeting with Fidel Castro.

                       Observers in Belfast, aware of what Mr Adams regards as a
                       debt of gratitude he owes to President Castro because of his
                       backing for the IRA hunger strike 20 years ago, said that
                       the Sinn Fein president would have to balance that against
                       severe US disapproval if he went ahead.

                       Ever since the men’s arrest on August 11, leading figures in
                       Sinn Fein have scorned claims that they worked for them.
                       Only 24 hours before yesterday’s disclosure Conor Murphy,
                       Sinn Fein Assembly member for South Armagh, dismissed
                       allegations against the “Bogotá Three” as “candyfloss”. He
                       said: “There was an attempt to try to sell one of these
                       people as Sinn Fein representative in Cuba, which has
                       proved rubbish.”

                       Diplomatic reports from Havana said that despite the
                       tight-knit nature of Cuba’s small English-speaking
                       expatriate community, little information was available about
                       Connolly, who was travelling under the alias David Bracken.

                       But Aymee Hernandez, Cuba’s Foreign Ministry
                       spokeswoman, said Connolly was Sinn Fein’s de facto
                       ambassador for Latin America. She was more concerned to
                       deny allegations that Cuba was involved in training the
                       Colombian rebels, which she described as “a big lie”.
                       “There is no connection between Niall Connolly’s work in
                       Cuba, where he lived for five years, and anything he may be
                       suspected of doing in Colombia,” she said.

                       Even US fundraisers for the IRA are embarrassed at
                       allegations of links with Colombian terrorist gangs who deal
                       in drugs. A spokesman for Noraid said: “We want more
                       details about this entire matter before deciding anything.”

                       US officials were last night studying intelligence reports
                       from Bogotá which detail how the three alleged IRA men
                       were also working closely with Cuban agents. Security
                       chiefs in Bogotá say they have evidence that the men were
                       assisting the FARC rebels in manufacturing bombs and
                       home-made mortars; unconfirmed reports said that the
                       Cuban Intelligence Directorate was also involved.

                       The men, who arrived on false passports, denied any links
                       with the Provisional IRA and told police they were on
                       holiday. Security officials in Bogotá say the men now claim
                       they were there as journalists.

                       But Colombian police said they tracked the men travelling
                       on different routes through Dublin, Paris and Madrid using
                       false documents before meeting at a Bogotá hotel where
                       Connolly is alleged to have contacted FARC using a
                       codename provided by Cuban Intelligence.

                       Colombian security chiefs last night claimed Connolly was
                       the link between the IRA and various revolutionary
                       movements in Latin America. One said that the men’s
                       mission was to supply FARC with expertise in electrical and
                       remote detonation for car bombs and in mixing
                       high-powered synthetic explosives.