An Irish man told a Lithuanian court today he had travelled to the Baltic state in 2008 to buy weapons, but denied he intended to arm a dissident republican group.
Michael Campbell was arrested in a sting operation, involving Lithuanian, Irish and British secret services.
Prosecutors said Mr Campbell (38) a convicted cigarette smuggler, paid undercover Lithuanian agents €10,000 to buy weapons, including a sniper rifle, detonators, timers and high explosives.
They say he intended to smuggle them out of the country, acting on the orders of his brother, Liam Campbell, a member of the Real IRA who was found liable, in a civil trial, of involvement in the Omagh bombing in 1998 that killed 29 people.
Mr Campbell told the court he was encouraged by an undercover British agent to come to Lithuania to buy weapons. He wanted to acquire weapons because they were in demand by criminals and "a much better business than cigarettes".
"I am not a member of the Real IRA," Mr Campbell told the judge.
The Real IRA killed two British soldiers in 2009, the deadliest act of violence in the province for more than a decade.
Mr Campbell is also charged with providing support for a "terrorist organisation", the Real IRA.
He said he could not recall discussing with undercover Lithuanian agents about the use of explosives against police cars and armoured vehicles.
Mr Campbell's defence lawyer, Ingrida Botyriene, said her client denied the charges. "His position is that the acts he is being tried for were provoked by the special services of the United Kingdom and Lithuania," she told journalists.
Mr Campbell faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. The court is expected to deliver a verdict in one or two months.