Gen Augusto Pinochet faces a further wait before learning if he is immune from arrest and extradition from Britain to Spain over alleged human rights crimes.
The House of Lords yesterday reserved judgment, to a date yet to be decided, after the latest 12-day hearing on immunity.
Lord Browne-Wilkinson, chairman of the seven-member panel of law lords which has heard the case, said they would "take time to consider their judgments and will report their views to the House [of Lords] in due course".
If the law lords decide that Gen Pinochet (83) does have immunity for crimes allegedly committed during his 1973 to 1990 regime, then he will be free to leave Britain and return to Chile. However, if the law lords rule against him, he faces a prolonged stay in England, with his lawyers determined to fight the Spanish expedition bid at every stage.
The law lords were told yesterday that Gen Pinochet conspired to murder an exiled Chilean in Spain after travelling there for the funeral of the Spanish dictator Gen Francisco Franco.
The November 1975 meeting between Gen Pinochet and his agents in Spain was part of an 18-year international conspiracy led by the former Chilean leader to track down and kill his political opponents, Mr Alun Jones, lawyer for Spain, told the law lords.
Mr Jones said Britain must extradite Gen Pinochet to Spain, arguing Spain could try him for the entire conspiracy which caused thousands of deaths worldwide.
"If something is done in furtherance of that conspiracy in Spain, then Spain has the jurisdiction to try the whole conspiracy."
The conspiracy did not, however, cause the death of the Chilean exile targeted in Madrid, Mr Carlos Altamirano. The plot failed because "it happened he was too well protected", said Mr Jones.
Gen Pinochet was arrested in London on October 16th, at the request of Spain, which says some 50 Spaniards were among more than 3,000 people from Chile and other countries who were tortured or died between 1973 and 1990.
Gen Pinochet is said to have modelled his own authoritarian policies on those of Gen Franco, who overthrew a Republican government in the 1930s to take power in Spain and ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1975.
Gen Pinochet came to power in 1973 in a coup which resulted in the death of the former Chilean president, Mr Salvador Allende. Mr Altamirano, a leading Chilean socialist who had been close to Mr Allende, was one of thousands who fled the country.
"In 1975, according to the evidence, Pinochet was in Spain for the Franco funeral," Mr Jones said. He met those who had taken part in an attack on another Chilean exile in Italy and together they conspired "to kill Altamirano".
Gen Pinochet's lawyers say that, as a former head of state, he is immune from extradition. Lawyers for Spain have argued that Gen Pinochet has no immunity for offences which international treaties recognise as crimes against humanity.
An earlier panel of law lords ruled that Gen Pinochet could be tried. However, that decision was set aside after it emerged that one judge had links with Amnesty International.