Other assassinations given prominence are those of 16 Spaniards - although he notes that this tally is not exhaustive. Under the country's laws no one over the age of 75 can be sent to prison.The judge says that General Pinochet planned and carried out a campaign inside and outside Chile to "partially destroy a national group for ideological and religious reasons and partially eliminate an ethnic group, with degrading treatment". He describes the international co-operation with neighbouring dictators to eliminate political dissidents, the Condor Plan, directly implicating Pinochet and his right-hand man, the former head of the Dina, Manuel Contreras.Judge Garzon directly attributes to the Dina and to General Pinochet the assassination of Chile's ambassador in Washington, Orlando Letelier. Judge Garzon alleges thatGeneral Pinochet, through the Chilean secret police, Dina, contacted right-wing terrorist groups in Europe and elsewhere to orchestrate the assassination of political opponents including President Allende's military chief of staff, Carlos Prats, the Communist leader Carlos Altamirano, and Chile's former vice-president Bernardo Leighton. In demanding that the general's assets should be frozen, the Spanish authorities indicated that the general may face a substantial fine on conviction. It lists 2,700 victims of Chilean military repression, including Spaniards, Brazilians, Argentines, Bolivians and other Latin Americans.

THE INDICTMENT against Augusto Pinochet drawn up by Judge Baltasar Garzon is a catalogue of sadistic murder, torture and terrorism carried out by the dictator's regime in Chile and abroad. These lists form nearly two-thirds of the indictment.Judge Garzon argues that the amnesty law approved during General Pinochet's regime rules out a trial in Chile, and that the gravity of the charges require him to face trial either in Britain, where he was arrested, or in Spain, which is seeking his extradition. This is the first Spanish mention of a possible British trial.. The judge lists the victims and the circumstances of their deaths. The judge describes how General Pinochet masterminded an international campaign against his political opponents, enlisting the help of the Argentine and Latin American dictatorships.Judge Garzon said the operation was aimed at "developing and executing a systematic criminal plan of detentions, kidnappings, tortures followed by death, forced displacement of thousands and the selective disappearance of about 3,000".The document describes the coup of 11 September 1973 that caused the overthrow and death of Salvador Allende, and General Pinochet's direct involvement in the subsequent massacres that swept Chile.It describes how he directly controlled the Chilean secret police, Dina, which carried out the atrocities and how he contacted right-wing terrorist groups abroad to orchestrate the assassination of opponents.The document describes the secret detention centres and the way priests, women, young children, Mapuche Indians and Jews were attacked. The judiciary is completely independent."Exactly what route General Pinochet will take to Belmarsh from his rented home on the upmarket Wentworth Estate inSurrey is not clear.But one would advise him to leave in plenty of time.

With all the roadworks going on yesterday, the traffic was awful.. AUGUSTO PINOCHET orchestrated "diabolical" acts of genocide, torture and international terrorism, the Spanish judge driving the extradition efforts said in the criminal indictment he presented to the Spanish national court yesterday. Judge Baltazar Garzon's 285-page document is the most detailed version of the case against General Pinochet, which Spanish lawyers have been building for two-and-a-half years. The judge sought an embargo on General Pinochet's bank accounts. He stated his wish to take a statement from General Pinochet "once he is available" and promises to pass the document to Britain.The indictment lists 2,700 victims of Chilean military repression, including Spaniards, Americans, and people from most Latin American countries. One of General Pinochet's countrymen said: "This is an historic moment, as we might be the last journalists to ever see him alive."The courtroom was locked, the one case it was hearing having been dealt with earlier in the day. (An Alfaw Waz, accused - perhaps suitably enough - of conspiracy to murder.)There is only one court at Belmarsh - a futuristically designed, large, airy room on the first floor.

It is clean, pine-clad and has windows close to the ceiling.Space has been set aside for 38 journalists, of which only four are from Chile.It is likely that General Pinochet's lawyers will argue that the 83-year- old be allowed to remain seated in his wheelchair in front of the dock during the hearing. If not, the autocratic backside will rest in the dock on a blue, cushioned bench behind a screen of strengthened glass.The case, expected to last little more than 10 minutes before it is adjourned, will be heard by Graham Parkinson, a recorder and Metropolitan Stipendary Magistrate who likes opera and playing the piano.Mr Parkinson, 61, was not available for comment yesterday, but a spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's Department said: "Of course Mr Parkinson is aware of the worldwide interest in this case, but he will hear it entirely on its merit."There is no way that he will have been briefed or anything like that. ("My boss told me I could 'piss off', when I joked that I wanted tomorrow off," one of the guards said yesterday.)In contrast to today's security, things yesterday were remarkably quiet.The two security staff seemed rather amused by the media interest, in particular from Chilean journalists who struggled to find the Spanish translation for "in the dock". Yet later today, Augusto Pinochet - senator, general, former dictator and sometime Santiago resident - will appear at the modern magistrates court next to the jail - the latest stop on his increasingly bizarre visit to Britain. It is unlikely the ageing general could have expected when he arrived in London in September and took tea with the former prime minister Baroness Thatcher that he would visit the salt flats at the end of the Blackwall Tunnel.Belmarsh Magistrates and Crown Courts, which opened five years ago, are among the most secure in Britain, and have been the site of the trials and committals of many serious criminals.Court staff reveal, almost proudly, that one of the Kray clan was dealt with there.Today security at the court will be extremely tight - police officers are being drafted in and the number of private security guards will be boosted. THE BLEAK lowlands known as the Plumstead Marshes are flat and grey, broken only by the brooding hulk of Belmarsh Prison. On a dull December day it would be hard to think of anywhere in greater contrast to the urbane sophistication of the Presidential Palace in central Santiago. Reports in recent weeks said he had been shot, but survived.The rise of Wahhabism in the north Caucasus become an issue of profound concern to the Chechen government, and Moscow, which has yet to recognise Chechnya's independence..

Mr Barayev, in his 20s, is a Wahhabi Islamic fundamentalist whose group has strong ties to Saudi Arabia and who has long been opposed to the secular Mr Maskhadov.He is believed to been involved in the kidnapping of Mr James and Ms Carr.He came under suspicion when the engineers were first seized, not least because an injured kidnapper reportedly turned himself in at a hospital at Urus-Martan, 20 miles from Grozny and which is a known stronghold of Mr Barayev. The ministry said he did not have an intelligence background.The disclosure that security forces are hunting Mr Barayev, a ruthless former Chechen separatist commander, again raised the likelihood that the kidnapping was political. These confessions have obviously been forced out of them after they have been threatened."Ministry of Defence disclosed that Mr Petschi, fluent in several East European languages, had spent 20 years in the Royal Signal Corps. telephone equipment with the support of the Chechnyan authorities. But any reasonable analysis would show that we have no wish to spy on Chechen territory."Eamon Hickey, Darren's father said: "They went .. to install ...