A court in Chile has agreed to a request from the Communist Party to proceed with a criminal investigation into the former president, General Augusto Pinochet, who seized power in a coup in 1973.

The investigation into allegations of torture and genocide would be the first of its kind against the former leader, who is still head of the Chilean army.

During General Pinochet's 17 years in office, about 3,000 people were killed and thousands more went missing.

After deciding to approve the request for an investigation, Judge Juan Guzman said: "Our business is to verify if these things happened, and decide who might be responsible for them."

A lawyer for the Communist Party, Eduardo Contreras, said they had asked for General Pinochet to be summoned to testify.

"We have also asked for him to be arrested," Contreras said.

An anti-Pinochet protestor is led away

Sola Sierra, the head of a group representing relatives of detainees who disappeared, hailed the judge's decision as historic.

"If there is justice in this country, he (Pinochet) will be condemned," he said.

However, the investigation can only proceed when a ruling is made about General Pinochet's immunity from prosecution, which he enjoys as commander-in-chief of the army.

He would lose his immunity once he vacates the post.

Although General Pinochet is supposed to retire by March, he has kept people guessing about the exact date of his departure.

Pinochet still enjoys support

He recently decided to bring forward the date to next week, but then changed his mind when the threat of a criminal investigation and a separate parliamentary enquiry looked likely.

Relations between General Pinochet and the current centre-left government are uneasy.

The BBC South America correspondent says General Pinochet still commands huge political influence in Chile, and it is becoming clear that he overshadows the elected president, Eduardo Frei.

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