BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- A suspected IRA member cleared of murder in the Netherlands but detained upon his return to Ireland was freed from custody Saturday following 24 hours of questioning about alleged weapons offenses.
Gerard Harte, 27, from Lurgan in Northern Ireland, was arrested immediately he arrived Friday night at the Dublin airport after flying direct from Amsterdam.
He was being held at the Bridewell police station.
Police said Harte, a father of two, was detained in connection with the alleged firearms offenses. He was held nearly 24 hours for questioning, then released Saturday evening from the Bridewell station.
Harte had been freed Friday morning by a Dutch court after he was found innocent of the murder of two Australian men in Roermund in May 1990.
After the killings, the IRA claimed responsibility but said the two Australian tourists had been shot by mistake. They said their active service unit believed the two men were British soldiers on leave from a nearby base.
Two other men and a woman, all from Ireland, also were found not guilty but were detained in custody pending their extradition to Germany, where they are wanted for questioning. The three are Sean Hick, 30; Paul Hughes, 27; and Donna Maguire, 24.
Harte also is believed to be wanted for questioning about crimes committed by the IRA in Northern Ireland, but a spokesman at police headquarters in Belfast said he did not know if a warrant was to be issued for his extradition.
A spokesman at the headquarters of the Royal Ulster Constabulary said, 'I am not aware of any warrants being issued for his arrest. I just don't know.'