The Colombian president, Mr Alvaro Uribe Velez, has been condemned by Sinn Féin for prejudging the case of three Irishmen facing charges in Bogota of training left-wing guerrillas.
During an interview with the US news magazine, Newsweek, Mr Uribe was asked if he believed the FARC guerrillas were part of an international terrorist network.
In reply, Mr Uribe, who warned that the threat posed by FARC was equal to one posed by Saddam Hussein, said: "We have in jail some IRA members who came to help the FARC."
The trial without a jury of Mr Niall Connolly, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr James Monaghan - known as the Colombia Three - has been postponed until next month.
Insisting that the trial is "a sham", Sinn Féin TD Mr Sean Crowe said the criticisms by the Progressive Democrats of Fianna Fáil senator Mary White were "ill-informed, petty and vindictive".
Last week, Senator White, who attended the trial as an observer, called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, to intervene with his Colombian counterpart to have the trial stopped.
