IRISH POLICE IN SPLIT TO GATHER DATA ON ARMS TRAFFIC FOR IRA

SPLIT, April 6 (Hina) - A group of Irish police experts arrived in the Croatian southern coastal city of Split on Friday to hold talks with local judicial and police authorities on investigations in international terrorism, a spokesman for the Split police, Leo Tauber, said this evening. For several years, the Croatian, British and Irish police have been cooperating in the fight against the international terrorism, and this is the purpose of the arrival of the Irish team. The Irish police officers are in particular interested in last year's case when an illegal arms depot was discovered in the village of Dobranje in the Split hinterland. The Irishmen are interested in that case as it is believed that Croatian citizens Ante and Josip Cubelic from Dobranje, who are being investigated for smuggling weaponry to an IRA faction, cooperated with IRA terrorists. According to the indictment against Cubelics, they have been in contact with IRA since 1996 when they worked as drivers for an Irish humanitarian organisation and met several Irishmen, including Damian Lowles, in whom the Irish police are particularly interested. In early 2000 the Irish and British police arrested some IRA members including Lowles. On that occasion almost the same weaponry was discovered in a secret arms depot as a few months later in Dobranje. (hina) ms