Jose Miguel Insulza told the BBC in London that he fully expects the 14 lawsuits filed against Augusto Pinochet since January to result in justice.

Mr Insulza: Wants Pinochet released

The foreign minister has been seeking to persuade the UK Government to release the general, who is currently detained in London pending an extradition request by the Spanish authorities.

"The Chilean people have to be allowed to judge and decide how they are going to deal with their past," Mr Insulza said.

But he added: " I cannot say that a man who is 83 years old is going to jail".

Home Secretary Jack Straw is to decide whether the extradition can proceed, after a ruling by the UK's Law Lords that the general did not qualify for immunity from arrest.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary will look closely at all representations made to him."

According to two British newspapers, a deal is emerging under which the UK Government would allow General Pinochet to return to his own country for trial.

The Observer reports that "senior ministers" privately believe Chile's proposal is the best way to try him without destabilising Chile's economy or jeopardising trade with Britain.

General Pinochet faces a hearing before Bow Street magistrates in London on 11 December when government lawyers will reveal if Mr Straw has granted an "Authority to Proceed".

Jose Miguel Insulza: "Chile cannot accept a Spanish trial"

Supporters and opponents of General Pinochet back home say that it is highly unlikely that the former military leader will ever face trial in Chile.

An amnesty law passed by General Pinochet himself in 1978 has so far prevented members of the military government from being convicted for human rights abuses.

Since he stepped down in 1990 and democracy was restored, several unsuccessful attempts have been made to abolish this law.

David Loyn: "A significant shift in the Chilean position"

Human rights groups say there is a small chance that the amnesty law may be re-interpreted to allow prosecution for specific crimes such as torture - and in the hope of this, they have filed lawsuits against the general, who is also a senator for life.

The judge in charge of these lawsuits, Juan Guzman, says that he plans to interrogate General Pinochet and does not rule out one day putting him on trial.

Military tribunal would take case

Even if this were to happen, General Pinochet would have the option of being tried by a military court.

Lawyer Jose Salakaet : A prosecution in Chile is possible but unlikely

BBC Santiago correspondent James Reynolds says most Chileans believe the armed forces would never convict their former commander-in-chief.

Last week the Chilean Supreme Court rejected a request by the government to intervene to ensure that General Pinochet could one day be tried in a civil court.

Our correspondent says that most Chileans feel that under present circumstances, General Pinochet will never face justice in Chile.

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon's request for the general's extradition implicates him in 3,178 murders or "disappearances" during his 17 years of power in Chile.

Anti-UK feelings run high among the general's supporters

In Santiago, supporters of General Pinochet have continued to picket the Spanish embassy and the British ambassador's residence, but the riots which greeted the Law Lords' ruling have subsided.

Chilean President Eduardo Frei has called for calm, and called on the country to unite behind his efforts to secure General Pinochet's release.

Chilean police have stepped up security outside a number of public buildings in the capital, Santiago, and the British embassy has closed its consulate in the coastal city of Valparaiso.

The UK also cancelled the visit of a warship to a Chilean naval fair next week.