Three in court after NI arms find

Three men have been charged with terror offences
12 April 2012

Three men are due to appear in court to face a series of charges linked to a cache of suspected dissident republican firearms recovered in Northern Ireland.

The accused - aged 34, 35 and 39 - were arrested on Friday after police stopped a vehicle in Keady, south Armagh, close to the Irish border.

The men are set to appear at Newry Magistrates' Court. They are charged with possession of firearms with intent to endanger life, preparing to commit an act of terrorism and possession of items likely to be of use to terrorists.

They were arrested as part of a security operation which also involved police in the Republic of Ireland.

The seizure on Friday night was the first of three significant hauls recovered in south Armagh in two days.

On Sunday, officers made two separate discoveries of suspect bomb making equipment in planned searches.

Those finds brought no further arrests and police have not provided details of the locations.

The seizures over the weekend come as police remain on high alert across Northern Ireland amid fears of a terror attack to mark traditional republican Easter commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin against British rule. Increased patrol and checkpoints are being mounted in a bid to thwart any act of violence.

Just three weeks after the murder of Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh, Co Tyrone, police have warned that terrorist groups could be intent on trying to kill more officers in the coming days and weeks.

A 33-year-old man arrested by detectives investigating the policeman's murder appeared in court in Dungannon on Saturday on a series of arms and explosive charges.

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