Pinochet menu: Tuesday afternoon

[MichaelP]

BBC(london) Tuesday, December 1, 1998 Published at 21:36 GMT

PINOCHET RETREATS TO LUXURY ESTATE

The ambulance carrying General Pinochet leaves the hospital General
Augusto Pinochet has arrived at an exclusive estate in southern England in
an ambulance with blacked-out windows.

Earlier in the evening, he left the private hospital in North London where
he had been staying after the hospital state publicly that he no longer
needed treatment and should find alternative accommodation.

The pinochet File The general is on bail waiting to learn if he will be
extradited to Spain in connection with genocide and torture allegations
during his rule in Chile. That announcement is due on 11 December.

The former Chilean military ruler was escorted out of the Grovelands
Priory hospital in Southgate by a convoy of police cars.

Before he arrived at the Wentworth estate, a police helicopter circled
overhead several times and dozens of police officers converged on
adjoining roads leading to the house where the general is believed to be
staying.

Commander Carl Crathern, responsible for policing the North Surrey
Division, said: "I can confirm that General Pinochet is now in residence
in a house on the Wentworth estate."

It is not clear who owns the property where the general is now staying.
Many of the large houses on the Wentworth estate are inhabited by
diplomats.

SPAIN SETS OUT ITS POSITION

General Pinochet's solicitor, Michael Caplan, makes a statement about the
moveThe Spanish Government has reiterated its position on his extradition.

Spain's Foreign Minister Abel Matutes told his Chilean opposite number,
Jose Miguel Insulza, he could not intervene in the extradition process.

[ image: Mr Insulza (left) with Mr Matutes following their meeting]

He said if the British decided against extradition the Spanish would
accept it.

Mr Insulza said judicial decisions on General Pinochet's fate should not
be influenced by political considerations.

Earlier, he met the speaker of the lower house of the Spanish parliament,
Federico Trillo, and said the former dictator was unlikely to get a fair
trial if extradited.

He said: "The political climate in Spain is not favourable to General
Pinochet and that carries weight in the judicial process even beyond the
will of the judges to be impartial."

US TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS

Meanwhile, the United States has announced it will release documents on
human rights abuses committed under General Pinochet's regime.

A spokesman said the State Department had already provided some
information and documents to Madrid over the past year.

On Monday, the American Secretary of State, Madelaine Albright, said
Chilean opposition to the extradition of General Pinochet should be
respected.

______________________________

BBC (London) Tuesday, December 1, 1998 Published at 13:42 GMT

Pinochet: the US connection

The CIA plotted to bring Pinochet to power

Jonathan Fryer examines why the US might prefer General Pinochet not to
stand trial in Spain

Until Monday the US government had kept out of the furore over General
Pinochet's detention in Britain, at least publicly.

The pinochet File Despite several days of rumours that the Clinton
administration had been putting pressure on its close ally not to permit
the former Chilean leader's extradition to Spain, a White House spokesman
has insisted that the next steps depend on London and Madrid, not
Washington.

However, the Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has now indicated that
the situation might not be that straightforward when she made a statement
calling for Chile's views to be taken into account.

As far as the Chilean government is concerned, those views are clear:
namely, that General Pinochet should be allowed to return home.

[ image: Albright: Respect Chile's wishes]

In fact, the Chilean Foreign Minister, Jose Miguel Insulza, has been
spending the past few days in the UK and Spain arguing that dealing with
the ex-dictator's alleged crimes is Chile's business, not theirs.

Raul Sohr, a defence analyst working for Chilean television, says Santiago
feels that Chilean sovereignty has been overruled as the general is a
Senator for Life and was travelling on an official passport.

"The government feels that that should be respected; if it's not, it's the
Chilean state that loses face," he said.

US-BACKED COUP

But Jim Hoagland, the Assistant Editor of the Washington Post, believes
that concern for Chile's feelings is not the only reason for Mrs
Albright's intervention.

"I think you have to look at the history of America's own involvement in
Chile," he said.

[ image: Henry Kissinger told the CIA to make Chile's economy 'scream']

"It was an American covert operation run by the CIA that paved the way in
the early 1970s for the military coup against [the left-wing President]
Salvador Allende. And I suppose that there's a desire in Washington not to
open up this can of worms again."

Mrs Albright is keen to dispel suspicions in some quarters that the US
wants to try to avoid seeing General Pinochet put on trial, in case this
sets a precedent for similar action against other controversial former
heads of state in Latin America and elsewhere:

She has stressed that the US is committed to the principles of
accountability and justice and highlights its support for the
International War Crimes Tribunal in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

WASHINGTON'S CONCERNS

But Mr Hoagland does not see things that way.

"There is a concern in Washington about the growing effort to have an
international court that would try people on very broad charges: genocide,
crimes against humanity etc.

[ image: Pinochet (left) and Allende a month before the coup]

"In July, the US was one of only five countries that really opposed the
founding of this kind of court.

"That was partly out of concern that American soldiers might end up in
foreign courts, or indeed that former secretaries of state who were
invoved in the Chile affair might find themselves one day arrested
somewhere."

US OFFICIALS DIVIDED

But US legal expert Joseph Nye says that he detects conflicting views
among US officials and legal advisors:

"There are some lawyers who are concerned by the precedent that's set by
having Pinochet extradited to Spain," he said.

"There are others in the government, more on the human rights side, who
would like to see him sent to Spain and tried there."

Meanwhile, many of the families of the victims of the Chilean military
dictatorship are putting their faith in the UK government, whatever
diplomatic pressure Washington may exert.

The final decision on whether the general will be sent to Spain rests with
the UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw. But so far he has resisted giving any
indication which way he will go.

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