Chile’s former leader Augusto Pinochet was today stripped of his legal immunity against trial for the killing of two bodyguards of Salvador Allende, the Marxist president he toppled in the bloody 1973 coup that installed his long dictatorship.

A judge today granted bail to former Chile military strongman Augusto Pinochet in the case of nine dissidents who disappeared during his dictatorship, but the general remains under house arrest as another court reviews the decision.

General Augusto Pinochet was stripped of his legal immunity by an appeals court today, allowing his trial in the disappearance of 29 additional dissidents during his 1973-90 dictatorship.

An appeals court today turned down a request by lawyers for General Augusto Pinochet to release the former dictator from house arrest or drop human rights charges against him.

TWO days short of his 90th birthday, General Augusto Pinochet was placed under house arrest at his Santiago mansion yesterday on charges of tax evasion.

A CHILEAN court stripped General Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution yesterday in a human rights case involving the killing of more than 100 dissidents.

CHILE’S Supreme Court opened hearings yesterday on whether to uphold the indictment and house arrest of General Augusto Pinochet on human rights charges, after the former dictator was released from hospital after five days recovering from a stroke.

Chile’s former dictator General Augusto Pinochet is under house arrest after a judge indicted him for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 1973-1990 military regime.

A Chilean court has agreed to hear a new request to strip former dictator General Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution and allow him to stand trial for human rights abuses during his regime.

General Pinochet's lawyer has recommended that the former dictator openly disobey the judge seeking to try him on human rights charges.