A preliminary hearing into the case of the three Irishmen accused of assisting FARC guerrillas in Colombia has been set for 4 October.

Jim Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were arrested at Bogota's international airport last August and held in connection with having false documents.

The men had been held at a military base in Bogota under heavy guard since 11 August.

Two of the men are from the Republic of Ireland and one is from Northern Ireland.

FARC rebels in Colombian countryside

They are accused of training rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to make bombs and other weapons, which carries a 16-year sentence.

The Colombian attorney general's office said it had enough evidence to proceed with the charge of providing training for Marxist guerrillas from forensic tests and with inconsistencies in the Irish men's stories.

'False passports'

Under the Colombian legal system, prosecutors have 240 days to prepare the case before going to trial.

The men have also been charged with carrying false passports, to which they have already confessed and could be sentenced almost immediately.

The trio were detained as they attempted to leave the country.

The army said the training was carried out over five weeks while the three were in a demilitarised area the government handed over to the FARC more than two years ago to launch peace talks.

A security assessment shown to the BBC in June said the IRA had been involved in developing weapons in Colombia.

IRA leaders denied authorising any action in the south American country.

The men have all denied links with the IRA or Colombian guerrillas.

They have said they were "framed as part of attempts to damage peace talks between the government and rebels".

FARC and other terrorist groups in Colombia are thought to be responsible for 90% of the cocaine and 70% of the heroin sold on America's streets.