The diplomatic war of words between Britain and Chile, following the arrest of the former dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, intensified yesterday as the charges against him were broadened to include genocide, torture and terrorism against 94 people from Spain, Chile, Argentina, the United States and Britain. The decision came as the Chilean ambassador to Britain, Mr Mario Artaza, held more than an hour of talks with the Foreign Office's director for the Americas, Mr Peter Westmacott.
After the meeting Mr Artaza said criminal proceedings against Gen Pinochet were under way in Chile. It was not the intention to shield the former leader from "the wrath of the law", but protecting someone travelling on a diplomatic passport.
Mr Artaza delivered a letter of protest arguing that Gen Pinochet should not have been arrested because of his diplomatic status and his position as a member of Chile's senate. In Bayonne yesterday, the Chilean President, Mr Eduardo Frei, criticised the attempt to extradite Gen Pinochet, saying: "It is only for Chilean courts to try events which occurred in Chile." Protests against Gen Pinochet's arrest continue in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
Gen Pinochet was placed under arrest on Friday at the London hospital where he is receiving treatment for back trouble. The vice-president of the National Organisation of Chilean Exiles in London, Mr Vicente Alegria, said his organisation informed the two Spanish judges who signed the extradition warrant of the general's whereabouts last week.
Gen Pinochet issued a bullish statement yesterday through his London solicitors: "Gen Pinochet entered the United Kingdom with the full prior knowledge of her majesty's government and with the approval of the Foreign Office. Permission for him to enter and stay in this country was stamped in his diplomatic passport. Any attempt to extradite him from the UK will be resolutely opposed. Both he and his family are confident of success."
But the Foreign Office, instructed by the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, denied Gen Pinochet's position conferred diplomatic immunity in Britain. A spokesman said the diplomatic passport "confers no immunity in the United Kingdom" because Gen Pinochet was not accredited to the Chilean embassy.
The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, also dismissed suggestions that Gen Pinochet's arrest violated diplomatic immunity. He said Spain's extradition request would be treated in the normal way. "Gen Pinochet's record is well known. But so far as my position is concerned, I will treat this extradition request by Spain in the same way as I treat any other extradition request," he said.
Once the two Spanish judges leading the investigation into Gen Pinochet's alleged atrocities have made a formal extradition request to the Home Secretary, his lawyers can appeal against his arrest and possible extradition. They can appeal to the House of Lords judicial committee, but Mr Straw will make the final decision.