Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe said on Tuesday his country plans to launch a case against his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in the International Courts of Justice for his alleged financing of rebels in Colombia.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during his weekly broadcast 'Alo Presidente' in Caracas March 2, 2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

"In this difficult time, citizens who are firm opponents of terror and its sponsors will go to the International Courts of Justice to charge Chavez for sponsoring and financing genocide," Uribe told local media.

Uribe said Chavez backs the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest guerrilla group which is listed as a terrorist organization by both the European Union and the United States.

"We don't need a pate on the back for expressing our regrets while we shelter butchers," Uribe said.

Uribe aims for the court to rule that Chavez is a war criminal, which will in turn force the international community to impose sanctions aiming to force Chavez, a left-winger, from power.

On Sunday, Chavez told local media that Uribe is being used as a cat's paw by the United States to attack Latin America's left-wing governments, adding that Uribe had made Colombia into South America's Israel.