Former Chilean dictator under
house arrest
Former Chilean
president Augusto Pinochet has
been placed under house arrest.
This follows a decision from the
Chilean Supreme Court, that
murder and kidnapping charges
filed against him can proceed.
The arrest order was delivered
to Pinochet's country estate a
short distance from the Pacific
coast. Pinochet was placed under
house arrest once before in
Chile -- for six weeks in 2001
in another human rights case,
which was later dismissed.
Now he is charged over the
deaths and disappearances of 10
leftists in the 1970s, when much
of South America was governed by
U.S.-backed military regimes.
His arrest comes after Chile's
Supreme Court upheld a lower
court decision to toss out a
defense motion arguing that
Pinochet is too ill to be
charged.
However, under Chilean law, the
Court decision is not
definitive, and Pinochet's
lawyer says the defense will
continue to try to get the
charges thrown out.
Switzerland asks for information
from Argentina about Kirchner
case
Switzerland asked
Argentina for information to
decide whether to cooperate in
an inquiry implicating Argentine
President Nestor Kirchner in a
money transfer case, local press
reported Wednesday.
The Federal Bureau of Justice of
Switzerland on Monday asked the
Argentine embassy in the Swiss
capital of Bern to provide
information on the scope of
Kirchner's immunity.
The Argentine justice is
investigating the whereabouts of
500 million US dollars
transferred to Switzerland from
the Argentine province of Santa
Cruz, when Kirchner was the
governor.
Argentine judge in charge of the
case, Jorge Urso, made a plea
late last September to
Switzerland and Luxembourg for
support in the investigation.
Kirchner himself has said that
he transferred the money abroad
in order to keep them from the
economic instability prevailing
in Argentina.
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Omar Quintana elected
president of Ecuadorian
congress
Omar Quintana, a lower house
representative of the
Ecuadorian Roldosista Party
(PRE), was elected president
of the National Congress on
Wednesday.
The result was announced
amid doubts on the
legitimacy of the election
as it was held without the
presence of the opposition.
The ruling party has
majority in Congress.
Quintana, 61, is a PRE
stalwart. He was elected
Guayaquil town councilor in
1994 and appointed president
of the National
Modernization Council in
1996.
He is also the president of
the soccer commission of
Sport Emelec soccer club,
which is his best-known
position in public life.
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