Cuban exiles have asked a court in the Spanish capital, Madrid, to seek the detention and prosecution of the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro on charges of genocide.

The case was filed by the Cuban American National Foundationjust days after a court ruled that a Spanish judge could investigate alleged atrocities committed under former military dictatorships in Chile and Argentina -- a decision which led to the arrest in Britain of the former Chilean President, General Augusto Pinochet.

General Pinochet is now awaiting the decision of Britain's highest court made up of five sneior judges sitting in the House of Lords which is hearing appeal proceedings