Police say four BBC journalists from Belfast have been released without charge, two days after they were arrested along with suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents. The British Broadcasting Corp. has refused to identify the four or explain what they were doing with the suspected IRA dissidents, who have begun courting media attention in recent months. The arrests came a week before Easter, the date when IRA splinter groups traditionally issue bellicose statements against Northern Ireland's links with Britain.
Ireland's national police force says seven other men arrested over the weekend as part of the operation against IRA dissidents remain in custody in County Donegal, northwest Ireland. Under Irish anti-terror laws they must be charged or released within 72 hours. |