Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia, April 26 -- Three suspected IRA members arrested after visiting a rebel haven in 2001 were acquitted Monday of charges that they had trained Colombian insurgents, but were convicted of traveling on false passports and identity documents.

A judge sentenced the three to prison terms of up to three years and eight months and ordered them expelled from Colombia after serving their time, according to Emilia Montanez, a court official. Each was also fined $6,500.

The defendants, James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley, were not present when the verdict was read. The trial ended last year, but the verdict was not issued until Monday because of what the judge, Jaime Acosta, said was a heavy caseload.

They were arrested at the Bogota airport in August 2001 after leaving a haven used by Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The haven was established by the government during peace talks that collapsed in February 2002.

"I'm very pleased that the Colombian justice system has maintained its independence from political and military interference," said Mary White, a senator in the Irish parliament, referring to remarks from the Colombian president's office and the military high command that described the men as terrorists.

A spokesman for President Alvaro Uribe said the verdict underscored the separation of powers in Colombia. "The government respects the verdicts," said the spokesman, Ricardo Galan. "These are separate branches."

White said the verdict would boost the peace process in Northern Ireland because Protestant opponents had cited the case as evidence that the Irish Republican Army was continuing to carry out illegal activities despite a 1997 cease-fire.

Monaghan was sentenced to three years and eight months, McCauley to three years and eight days, and Connolly to two years and two months.

© 2004