Pinochet won't be buried as ex head of state

Santiago (Chile), Dec 11: Deceased Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet will receive a funeral with military honors, but will not be honored as a former head of state, a government spokesman said today.

Pinochet, who polarized Chile during his violent 1973-1990 military rule and was under indictment on human rights and fraud crimes, died today at 91.

''It has been determined that the deceased former general shall receive the honors of a former commander in chief of the Army,'' government spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said in a statement.

Pinochet's funeral arrangements presented a dilemma for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, whose father died after being tortured in a Pinochet prison camp, because so many Chileans feel he was a criminal. Others felt he did great service to the country, saving it from communism.

Bachelet and her mother went into exile after they were arrested and held in an infamous Pinochet-era torture center.

The Army said that a Mass would be held on Tuesday for Pinochet, who died in a military hospital, at the Escuela Military school at 11 a.m. local time (1930 hrs IST).

REUTERS

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