Criminal proceedings against detained former Argentine officer

State prosecutors in Argentina have begun criminal proceedings against a former naval officer, Alfredo Astiz, after he defended the killings and torture carried out during military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prosecutors say that comments made by Mr Astiz in a recent magazine interview amount to an attempt to intimidate the general public.

On Thursday, the Argentine navy confined him to a naval base for two months after the interview provoked public outrage.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service