Chilean communists taken legal action against General Pinochet

The Chilean Communist Party has initiated legal action against the former military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, who came to power by overthrowing the leftist president, Salvador Allende, in a military coup in 1973.

The communists say General Pinochet is ultimately responsible for the deaths of three thousand people during his seventeen years in power.

The General is due to retire as head of the army soon, and to become an appointed senator-for-life.

But members of the governing party have already launched a bid to prevent him from taking up the seat.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service