(Adds Human Rights Watch statement paragraphs 11-12)

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Accusations by a jailed warlord that President Alvaro Uribe ordered the murder of a right-wing militia boss have sparked a frenzied war of words between the Colombian leader and the country's Supreme Court.

The court, which is probing dozens of Uribe's political allies on charges they supported paramilitary death squads, accuses the president of obstructing those investigations while Uribe says it is plotting against him.

In several radio interviews, Uribe said on Tuesday the court offered benefits including a reduced sentence to jailed paramilitary chief Jose Moncada in exchange for testifying that the president ordered the killing of another militia boss in 2003.

He made the charge in private questioning last week and news of his testimony has just begun circulating.

The president released a letter he received from Moncada in which the warlord says he was bribed into making the charge. Uribe said he called a Supreme Court justice to discuss the matter and later asked the attorney general to investigate.

Court President Cesar Valencia dismissed Moncada's accusation and said the president was "obstructing the court's investigative work" and trying to "delegitimize" the institution by discussing the issue publicly.

Uribe's government is facing a scandal in which 14 members of Congress, most from his coalition, are jailed and awaiting trial for suspected links to drug-running paramilitary militias formed in the 1980s to help beat back leftist rebels.

Another 22 current or former members of Congress, including Uribe's cousin and 30-year political ally Mario Uribe, are under investigation in the "para-political" scandal.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement the president should respect judicial independence and stop calling judges who are investigating his government.

"Uribe has a disturbing record of making aggressive statements against the courts and media outlets that are investigating his administration and political cronies," it said.

The conservative leader is popular for cutting urban crime and spurring investment with his U.S.-backed crackdown on rebels fighting a four-decade-old insurgency.

More than 31,000 right-wing paramilitaries have demobilized over the last four years in a deal offering them benefits including reduced jail terms for crimes including massacre, torture and drug smuggling.

In August the Supreme Court accused Uribe of "undo and unacceptable interference" after the president said the tribunal was wrecking the peace process by forbidding former paramilitaries to run for public office.

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