MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Thatcher “greatly saddened” with death of Falklands' ally

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she is “greatly saddened” by the death of Augusto Pinochet, said a spokesman.

Chile's dictator who ruled during seventeen years proved an efficient ally of the Thatcher government in 1982 during the Falkland Islands war with Argentina.

Chile feared that an Argentine victory in the South Atlantic could tempt the Argentine generals to move on to Chile for the recovery of disputed islands in the extreme south of the continent. A similar action with Argentine tanks rolling towards Chile was stopped at last moment by Pope John Paul II in 1978/79.

Baroness Thatcher also pressed for Pinochet's release after his arrest in London in 1998 over alleged human rights abuses.

During the Falklands conflict in 1982, President Pinochet had been Britain's discreet ally against Argentina, and, despite Labor protests, Margaret Thatcher's government ended a ban on arms exports to Chile.

A regular visitor to the UK, where he had many friends, General Pinochet was arrested in London in October 1998, as he arrived to undergo medical treatment.

The Spanish government requested his extradition from Britain to put him on trial over the deaths of Spanish citizens in Chile.

Thatcher had tea with him and publicly thanked the former dictator for his support during the Falklands' plus expressing her opposition to the extradition request. She even tried to convince the Conservatives meeting in Blackpool to make a statement in support of the Chilean leader.

Pinochet remained under house arrest at the exclusive Wentworth Estate in Surrey for nearly 17 months before then Home Secretary Jack Straw decided he was too ill to stand trial.

The official Foreign Office statement has been to praise Chile's remarkable progress since General Pinochet left office. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Chile had become an "open, stable and prosperous democracy" since 1990.

Jack Straw responding to General Pinochet's death defended the decision to let him go after 503 days of home arrest by saying he acted in accordance with "clear legal duties".