For weeks the Pinochet case has dominated events in Chile.

In the last few days there has been increasing speculation as to whether the UK's House of Lords will decide whether the General has state immunity and can go home, or accede to an extradition request and send him to Spain.

Now, the guessing is almost over.

Among General Pinochet's opponents, there is uncertainty in the run-up to the verdict.

The clinic in London where the General came for treatment was beseiged by anti-Pinochet protesters

"We're nervous, but we're also confident," says Apolonia Ramirez, from the organisation of relatives of those who disappeared during Pinochet's rule.

"We're optimistic that British legal system will bring justice for those of us who have suffered a lack of justice in our country."

The day of the judgement falls on General Pinochet's 83rd birthday.

His supporters say they are planning celebrations across the country which will go ahead regardless of the verdict.

However, there is growing anxiety among his entourage.

"This has been a long wait," says General Luis Cortes Villa, the director of the Pinochet Foundation.

"We started off feeling very confident but as it's gone on we've begun to get more and more worried. No one knows what'll happen anymore - it's very difficult to predict the result."

Preparing either way

The arrest of Augusto Pinochet in mid-October took Chile by surprise.

So in the run-up to the Lords' decision, people are doing their best to be prepared.

Several of General Pinochet's closest allies have gone to London to be with him as he waits for the decision.

The General may ask for release on compassionate grounds

President Eduardo Frei has returned to Chile from a trip to South Africa and Malaysia.

No one in Chile is willing to predict the result, so everyone is making plans for a decision which may go either way.

Should General Pinochet's state immunity be upheld, opponents say they will press for him to be tried when he returns to Chile.

Should the House of Lords decide that he does not have state immunity, the former military leader's supporters say they will lobby the British Home Secretary to release General Pinochet on compassionate grounds.

The arrest of Augusto Pinochet may have reopened the divisions of the last 25 years in Chile.