Monday pm Pinochet menu:US enters Pinochet row
MichaelP
Well -- while Big Nurse sez' he's malingering in hospital and is fit to
leave, and his doctors refuse to certify he's too ill to attend a bail
hearing next week -- here comes MadelineA to state a novel principle -
"against the background of a firm US stance on justice and accountability"
- that the citizens of Chile should be allowed to determine his fate.
Meanwhile, there's just the merest hint the US administration might be
embarassed if he ever starts to sing. But he could only sing about what a
previous administration may have done - Washington has turned over a new
leaf, hasn't it ?
Cheers
MichaelP
=================================
BBC Tuesday, December 1, 1998 Published at 04:45 GMT
US enters Pinochet row
General Pinochet's lawyers say he is to ill for extradition
The United States has intervened in the controversy surrounding Chile's
former dictator, General Augusto Pinochet - suggesting that the Chilean
authorities themselves should be allowed to decide his fate.
The general is being held on bail in Britain awaiting a decision on
whether he should be extradited to Spain to face charges of genocide and
torture.
The US Secretary of State, Madelaine Albright, said: "The citizens of
Chile are wrestling with the very difficult problem of how to balance the
needs of justice with the requirements of reconciliation."
Speaking in Washington after the international donors conference to raise
money for Palestinians, she declared that "significant respect should be
given to their conclusions".
Mrs Albright said her comments were made against the background of a firm
US stance on justice and accountability.
"Citizens of Chile are wrestling with a very difficult problem."
"The United States is committed to principles of accountability and
justice, as shown by our strong support for the international war crimes
tribunal on former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
"The record of the United States in working to see those responsible for
those kind of crimes brought to justice is second to none."
The BBC Washington Correspondent says the United States has been careful
to stay out of the row over General Pinochet.
He says the issue is sensitive for the Americans, who helped the general
seize power in 1973, and they may have cause for concern about whom he may
implicate in any future court proceedings.
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