The IRA supplied Colombian guerrillas with the technology for a mortar attack on Colombia's presidential inauguration, Vice-President Mr Francisco Santos has said.
"It's worrisome because of the technology [the guerrillas] acquired from the IRA, which shows that Colombian terrorism is a worldwide problem," Mr Santos told El Tiempo,the country's principal newspaper.
Colombia's Prosecutor General Mr Luis Camilo Osorio also claimed the IRA tested weapons while visiting rebels in the jungle.
"The techniques that the FARC have developed in recent years show that they have had technical assistance and used technology similar to those used by the IRA," Mr Osorio said.
Mr Osorio also said three Irishmen accused of training Marxist FARC guerrillas in Colombia was supported by evidence from a number of witnesses. He claims witnesses will say they saw the men enter the zone in the Colombian jungle controlled by FARC and train and instruct “the subversives” in weapons techniques.
Lab tests for explosives also supported the prosecution's case against Mr James Monaghan, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr Niall Connolly, he told BBC Northern Ireland.
However, he came under heavy criticism today from supporters of the men who accused him of interfering in the course of justice.
Bring Them Home Campaign chairperson Ms Caitriona Ruane, who was in the Colombian capital of Bogota today lobbying on behalf of the three suspects, claimed Mr Osorio had undermined their right to a fair trial. She said: "The Prosecutor General's office is the office that has been prosecuting the men.
"His comments are very serious given that he is a senior judicial figure and he should not be making public comments about the case. "Later today I will be meeting the lawyers and I will meet the United Nations and will be raising his comments because it is an interference in the right to a fair trial."
A Sinn Féin spokesman would not comment on the latest allegations, insisting there was nothing new in the Prosecutor General's claims.
The party also claimed that Mr Monaghan, Mr McCauley and Mr Connolly were being tried in the media when they should be given the right to a fair court hearing.
However UUP Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey accused Sinn Féin of running scared of the allegations.
"To believe those men were travelling around to look at the local birds and the local flowers is absolute nonsense," he said. "They were involved with the nasty drug-based terrorist organisation that is obviously killing large numbers of people in its current campaign."
Additional reporting PA