New images on family's black day
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Friday May 01 2009
Bolivian authorities chose yesterday -- the day Michael Dwyer was buried -- to release a series of new pictures of Mr Dwyer and his companions armed to the teeth with a variety of weapons.
They show the men, including Mr Dwyer and the alleged leader of the so-called assassination plot, Eduardo Rozsa Flores, in a variety of poses with weapons displayed before the media in a large montage.
In what are sure to prove worrying images, the Tipperary man is shown in one picture wielding a World War 2 Sten submachine gun. In another, he is armed with four semi-automatic pistols, with two tucked down the front of his trousers while he holds another two guns in his hands in a bravado pose. In yet another photograph, which shows off his distinctive shoulder tattoo, Mr Dwyer aims two pistols at the camera.
The men are also seen with a 7.62mm sniper rifle with a large telescopic sight, which can easily hit a man-sized target from 800 metres. Other weapons include a knuckle duster and knives.
It's not known when or where the pictures were taken, but all appear to have been shot in the same building and at about the same time. This may have been the New Year as in some pictures a Happy New Year message is written in different languages.
The pictures raise questions as to why the group were so heavily armed, where they got the weapons and what they intended to use them for.
- Don Lavery
