In the (London) Times of this morning :
Let Pinochet go, Menem urges
Britain
BY MICHAEL BINYON, NICHOLAS WOOD AND ROLAND WATSON
FIVE days before he begins a landmark visit to Britain, President Menem of
Argentina yesterday declared his "total" support for Chile's demand for the
release of General Pinochet.
And he took a huge stride towards healing the wounds of the Falklands war
by expressing his "deep regret" for the conflict.
His declaration on General Pinochet, coming so soon before a visit that is
enormously important and sensitive for both Britain and Argentina, is an
embarrassment for the Government. Last night there were signs that the
Government is considering ways of allowing General Pinochet to leave
Britain on compassionate grounds because of his poor health.
Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, said in a Commons written reply that even
in his quasi-judicial role, he could take into account compassionate
circumstances surrounding the case.
A further embarrassment emerged yesterday when General Pinochet's
supporters released a letter showing that he was invited to visit themby Royal
Ordnance, the arms manufacturer owned by British Aerospace. As a leading
defence supplier, the company has close links with the Government.
The letter invited General Pinochet to visit one of its factories during his stay
in the country. The general's supporters claim this showed that he was acting
as an unofficial ambassador for Chile and should have been accorded
diplomatic immunity from arrest.
British Aerospace initially claimed that there was a "standing invitation" for
representatives of the Chilean Government and military to visit the
company's Summerfield factory near Kidderminster, Worcestershire, to
study the progress of an artillery rocket project for the Chilean army. He said
that in his former capacity as head of the Chilean army, General Pinochet had
made at least two visits, in 1995 and 1997.
But the Royal Ordnance spokesman initially denied that the general had been
issued with a specific invitation to visit the factory during his current stay in
Britain. Nor had he told the company that he intended to pay a call.
Later, after The Times was passed a copy of the invitation from Malcolm
Lassan, a Royal Ordnance executive, the spokesman said his earlier
information about a standing invitation had been incorrect.
The letter, dated September 3, invites the general to inspect projects designed
"to confront the defence needs of the next century" and asks for convenient
dates.
In Buenos Aires a presidential spokesman said Señor Menem gave total
support to the position taken by President Frei of Chile, who has flatly
opposed the detention of the former dictator in London.
Guido di Tella, the Argentine Foreign Minister, said yesterday: "Argentina
will stand behind Chile. The diplomatic crisis brewing between our
neighbour and Britain will put President Menem in a difficult position, but
we have to stay behind Chile."
In pointed remarks that echo the calls by Chilean opposition leaders who this
week handed in petitions to the Home Office and Foreign Office, Señor
Menem said that Argentina fully shared the Chilean position on the defence of
the principle of territoriality.
The eight Chilean politicians insisted that what was at stake was not "whether
you like or dislike General Pinochet", they said, but the autonomy of Chilean
courts to decide about alleged crimes committed on Chilean soil.
Señor Menem is determined that nothing should upset a successful visit to
Britain, which begins on Tuesday and includes a brief wreath-laying
ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral in memory of those killed in the Falklands
war.
Such a gesture of reconciliation, seen by the Argentinians as a way of
drawing a line under the 1982 conflict, would be overshadowed by any
continuing row between Britain and another Latin American country.
This was emphasised when President Menem told The Sun yesterday:
"1982 was a sad and traumatic blot in the history of our relations. Some
brave young Argentine and British soldiers lost their lives in a conflict that
should never have happened and that we deeply regret."
His comments included the promise that Argentina would in future pursue its
claims to the Falklands "exclusively by peaceful means".
Downing Street, which helped to place the article, welcomed the President's
language as an important forerunner to next week's visit. A spokesman said
he was "not aware" of Buenos Aires using similar language in the past when
addressing the subject.
Argentina has been at pains not to take any offence from Baroness Thatcher's
letter to The Times, in which she said it would be disgraceful to preach
reconciliation with the leader of Argentina while maintaining the arrest of the
former leader of Chile. One reason for Argentina's alarm at a possible
Spanish extradition request is the determination by Baltasar Garzón, the
Spanish judge, to bring to trial 139 Argentinian military officials whom he
has accused of human rights abuses.
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