Pinochet taken to hospital for tests

THE FORMER Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, was taken to hospital yesterday from the Surrey mansion where he has been under armed police guard.

A source close the general, who is fighting extradition to Spain, said he was taken to hospital for "regular tests".

"There is no reason to believe there is anything serious," the source said. "His doctor just felt the need for some tests. He is 83 years old," he added.

General Pinochet is due in the High Court in London next week when he will seek permission to apply for judicial review of Home Secretary Jack Straw's decision to allow his extradition.

At a court hearing earlier this year, the Chilean senator's lawyers quashed rumours he was planning to plead he was too ill to face extradition proceedings.

Mr Straw, in his ruling last month, said: "It does not appear that the senator is unfit to stand trial."