Pinochet wiles away the hours on the Net

AUGUSTO PINOCHET learns his fate this week. As the law lords prepare to give their long-awaited ruling on whether he has immunity from prosecution, intense behind-the-scenes lobbying is being organised by General Pinochet and his supporters.

During his months under house arrest the former Chilean dictator has been repeatedly threatening to die in this country as "a martyr to the Fatherland".

In the meantime he has been busy planning his campaign with his friends and supporters. The general likes to chair the meetings personally to discuss contingency plans. Among those offering sympathy and advice are a group of Thatcherites such as Lord Bell, the former chancellor Lord Lamont of Lerwick, a public relations man, Patrick Robertson, and Robin Harris, who wrote a pamphlet on the iniquity of incarcerating "the saviour of Chile".

But increasingly there is a worry among Pinochet camp followers that they will lose at the House of Lords on Wednesday, with a split decision favouring his extradition to Spain on charges of human rights abuse.

While he waits, the former dictator's life in the house in Lindale Close on the Wentworth estate in Surrey, rented by the Chilean government for pounds 10,000 a month, has fallen into a pattern.

The general is an early riser, and after a "simple breakfast" he likes to walk in the back garden, leaning on his walking stick. Police dogs check the grounds first and armed officers keep watch. Afterwards the general starts to make his way through a pile of newspapers, voraciously reading everything written about him in the papers and then searching on the Internet for more.

Organising his campaign wiles away most of the day, with the general taking a keen interest in events in Chile as well as here, keeping in touch with the Pinochet Foundation, which is raising funds for his defence.

There is a steady stream of visitors. The general is said to be, at times, irritated by too many people in the house, which is not particularly big. His wife Lucia, a formidable figure, ensures visitors do not outstay their welcome.

Mrs Pinochet is in charge of organising domestic chores, dispatching the general's security guards - large men in dark suits and sunglasses - to the local Waitrose for shopping. The couple's favourite dish is pastel del choclo - beef and chicken in a corn pastry. Guests can drink a Chilean cabernet sauvignon launched by an admiring wine grower and called the Capitan General. The proceeds of bottles sold in Chile go to the general's defence fund. The former dictator himself, though, is teetotal.

Often all this takes place to the background noise of drumming and tambourine- playing by anti-Pinochet protesters. Sometimes there are counter-demonstrators, and Mrs Pino-chet can be seen at the doorway bellowing encouragement to them through a megaphone.

Things may change this week, however. If the law lords decide that General Pinochet does enjoy immunity as a former head of state, he is expected to be flown home straight away.

But a decision against the general will mean the beginning of a long drawn-out extradition process lasting months. In the end, if magistrates in London agree to extradition, the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, will have to decide whether to let it go ahead or return the 83-year-old former dictator to Chile on compassionate grounds.

Sign of pessimism in the Pinochet camp have emerged recently in the form of stories placed in right-of-centre Sunday newspapers. They claimed that Mr Straw had taken tea with Salvador Allende while on a student trip to Chile. There were further claims that the future home secretary had taken part in an anti-Pinochet demonstration in London after President Allende was overthrown by the general.

Lord Lamont said that if the stories were true, they would call into question the previous assurances about the extent of Mr Straw's involvement in activities over Chilean politics and show "he misled Parliament and would not only call into question his right to make any decisions relating to the case of General Pinochet, but also his own position as Home Secretary".

A similar exercise had led to the first law lords decision on General Pinochet being set aside after revelations of Lord Hoffmann's links with Amnesty International.

But this time the spin appeared to have backfired, with the Home Office stating: "Mr Straw did not meet Allende. He didn't demonstrate against Pinochet in London or elsewhere on his return to the UK."

Furthermore, "the Home Secretary was legally advised when it became clear he would be called to make a decision that this visit was not relevant to decisions in relation to the Pinochet extradition case".