Grief, tension at Pinochet's funeral

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec 12 (Reuters) Hecklers angry at the government shouted over the sound of choirs at the tense funeral today of Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator whose repressive rule from 1973 to 1990 made him infamous around the world for human rights abuses.

The funeral, following Pinochet's death on Sunday at the age of 91, was held in the capital Santiago at the military college where he began his career over 70 years ago.

Some 3,000 relatives, friends and top Chilean military officers packed a courtyard in the college grounds to pay their respects to a man who, even in death, continues to polarize Chilean public opinion.

The center-left government denied Pinochet the full state funeral usually reserved for former presidents, angering the general's supporters.

President Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured during Pinochet's rule, did not attend, and when her representative, Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot, arrived, she was heckled and whistled by mourners.

As the protests rose in volume, drowning out the noise of the funeral choir, the priest conducting the ceremony tried to defuse the tension by appealing for calm.

The general's youngest son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, has described the decision to deny his father a state funeral as petty and said the government was ''incapable of taking a noble stance at this moment in history.'' Bachelet has said in the past it would be an affront to many Chileans to conduct a state funeral for a man who seized power by force, led a repressive regime and was under investigation for murder, torture and fraud at the time of his death.

Pinochet's forces killed around 3,000 opponents and suspected opponents of the government during his rule. Scores of military police officers also died in the political violence.

The general's supporters say his rule saved the country from communism and his free-market reforms laid the foundations for its current stability.

Many mourners applauded as Pinochet's coffin, topped with a red, white and blue Chilean flag, was carried in to the courtyard in bright sunshine by eight pall-bearers in blue military uniform.

The priest read a service for the general, a Roman Catholic who once said he had been called by God to lead Chile.

Pinochet's body was due to be taken later to an undisclosed destination, where it will be cremated in accordance with his wishes. His son has said the family do not want a burial because they fear Pinochet's enemies would vandalize his grave.

Local media said the cremation would take place in Concon, a coastal town 90 miles (140 km) west of Santiago and close to the port of Valparaiso, where Pinochet was born on Nov. 25, 1915.

REUTERS PDM RN2038