Former dictator Galtieri arrested in Argentina

GENERAL Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentina's de facto president during the 1976-83 dictatorship, has been arrested on the orders of a judge prosecuting human rights abuses of that era.

Galtieri is being held at a military jail after a warrant was issued for his arrest, accusing him of taking part in the abduction, torture and execution of some 20 leftist guerrillas and other dissidents.

The 72-year-old general, who led Argentina to war with Britain over the Falkland Islands in 1982, was the third of four presidents to serve during the military’s rule. He was picked up at his suburban Buenos Aires home and driven under heavy guard to the jail on the city’s outskirts.