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IRA is linked to 'axis of evil'*** THE IRA was linked to President Bush's "axis of evil" in Washington last night when congressional investigators revealed that the Bogota authorities believed Iranian terrorists had trained in the same part of Colombia as the Provisionals. Placing the IRA within a global network of terrorism, a report by the House International Relations Committee concluded that Irish, Iranian, Cuban and possibly Spanish groups had probably "been sharing techniques, honing their terrorism skills, using illicit drug proceeds in payment".

In an attempt to limit the political damage, Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, had earlier declined an invitation to appear before a hearing of the committee today on the IRA's relationship with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia [Farc] narco-terrorists. "Colombian authorities assert that not only has the IRA operated in the former safe haven on behalf of the Farc, but also the Iranians, Cubans, and possibly Eta [Basque terrorists], among others," a summary of the committee's report said.

The inquiry was launched last summer after James Monaghan and Martin McAuley, both convicted of IRA offences, and Niall Connolly, Sinn Fein's representative in Cuba, were arrested in Bogota and charged with aiding the Farc. "Colombia is a potential breeding ground for international terror equalled perhaps only by Afghanistan, and the IRA findings are the strongest among these global links because of the arrests of the three Irish nationals and the accompanying evidence," said the summary.***

Chavez ordered out tanks during protest march-tapes***The public broadcast of the tapes was likely to inflame a controversy surrounding the four days of violence that accompanied the coup and subsequent restoration of Chavez, who has ruled the world's No. 4 oil exporter since 1998. Foes of Chavez, including military officers who staged the brief putsch, have accused him of deploying tanks and troops to repel the April 11 anti-government march by tens of thousands of civilian protesters, in which 17 people were shot dead.

But Rincon, who confirmed the military deployment, defended the move. "It wasn't to mistreat or to repress the population. No. It was to guarantee security and prevent public order disturbances," he told local Union Radio. Senior military officers involved in the coup have said they removed the president and replaced him with an interim government because they could not accept Chavez's order to use the armed forces against an unarmed civilian demonstration. At least five of the coup plotters are facing rebellion charges***