Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday mocked as "stupid" a Spanish judge's arrest warrant for members of Basque separatist group ETA in his country.

The ETA members in Venezuela "are not participating in any terrorist activity," he said after a Spanish judge requested international arrests warrants be issued for 12 suspected members of ETA and left-wing Colombian rebel group FARC.

"It looks so stupid to me that I don't even have anything to say in response," the Venezuelan leader told a group of journalists.

The suspects targeted by the arrest warrants, which were requested by High Court judge Eloy Velasco, live in both Venezuela and Cuba, a Spanish source told AFP.

On March 1, Velasco charged the 12, along with a suspected ETA member who was detained in Spain, with a series of crimes, including terrorism and conspiracy to assassinate top Colombian officials, including President Alvaro Uribe, as they visited Spain.

The charges, including allegations that Venezuela offered state support to the separatist group, sparked tensions between Caracas and Madrid.

Chavez has ridiculed the accusations, and said Monday that the ETA members who were granted refuge in Venezuela under a deal between Caracas and Spain in 1989, were not involved in any violence.

"They have children and grandchildren and we are sure that they are not participating in any terrorist activity," he said.