Members of the Socialist Party have written to the UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw, saying that General Pinochet will not face justice in Chile if he is returned. Their letter contradicts what the Socialist foreign minister said when he was in London.

Mr Insulza, who has just visited Europe, warned that conflicting messages from Chile would make it very difficult for the government to proceed with its diplomatic efforts to end extradition proceedings brought against General Pinochet by a Spanish judge.

Mr Insulza: said Pinochet would be tried in Chile

The general - now a lifelong senator in Chile - is in police custody in the UK, pending a decision by Mr Straw on whether to allow the extradition on charges of torture and genocide.

Mr Insulza returned on Friday from a trip to London and Madrid, which was intended to put pressure on the British and Spanish authorities to allow the former leader to return to Chile.

He told the UK government that Chile was pursuing charges against the general, and that he would be tried if he were permitted to return home.

US to release information

The foreign minister also welcomed the US decision to release classified documents relating to human rights abuses during General Pinochet's rule.

The US has long been accused by critics of having a role in the 1973 coup, in which General Pinochet ousted the former president Salvador Allende. The US Defence Secretary, William Cohen, said his country had nothing to fear from the declassified documents.