WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration denied reports that it is quietly trying to persuade Britain and Spain not to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who is under arrest in a London hospital.

``This is a legal matter between the governments of the United Kingdom, Spain and Chile. The United States is not involved,'' State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said Wednesday.

Media reports in Britain and France said the administration does not want to see Pinochet stand trial on charges of murder and torture because that would spotlight a U.S. role in the bloody coup that brought him to power.

Pinochet, a former commander of the Chilean army and now a ``senator for life,'' was arrested in London at the request of a Spanish magistrate seeking to prosecute the general on charges stemming from his 17-year-rule.

``The Spanish court's actions concerning General Pinochet are a matter for the U.K., Spain and Chile to resolve,'' Rubin said. ``We have taken no position on this issue and have not been approached by any of the governments involved to do so.''

In 1973, forces under Pinochet's command organized a violent coup in which President Salvador Allende, a democratically elected leftist, died in an attack on the presidential palace.

Several thousand people were killed during or following the military takeover. Many others are still listed as missing.

Justice department spokesman John Russell said the Spanish government had approached the department in January for documents on Chile.

``We agreed to do it under the mutual legal assistance treaty,'' he said. ``Starting in June 1998, we have been the conduit ... in supplying any documents dealing with humanitarian violations during the Pinochet regime. Documents were provided by the departments of defense and justice and the CIA and FBI.''

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