A Chilean aircraft which will return Gen Augusto Pinochet to his homeland was last night waiting on the runway in Bermuda. The Chilean Air Force 707 is expected to wait on the Atlantic island until the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, indicates that his final decision on whether to allow the former dictator home is imminent.
There was no word from the Home Office yesterday on when that might be.
A spokesman for Bermuda International Airport said the plane arrived there on Tuesday night. He said they had no idea when it would leave for England, as the Chileans had not yet submitted a flight plan.
Originally the jet, equipped with medical facilities, had been due to fly on to RAF Brize Norton, landing around lunch-time yesterday. But the Ministry of Defence later said the plans had been changed.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, was still considering the raft of representations from both anti-Pinochet campaigners and his supporters on what his next move should be.
He has been urged to order new tests on the general amid warnings there could have been serious flaws in the examination conducted by a team of experts earlier this month.
Campaigners have also pleaded for the right to see copies of the reports which led Mr Straw to conclude the 84-year-old general was unfit to be extradited to Spain to face charges of human rights abuses.
Campaign groups have not ruled out seeking a judicial review of whatever decision is taken by Mr Straw.
The threat of legal action could prompt a race against time as lawyers head to the High Court in an attempt for permission to stop him leaving the country as he is whisked to the waiting aircraft.
Mr Straw was wading through piles of papers from lawyers in Spain, France and Belgium and from human rights groups, all determined to pursue Gen Pinochet.
A Belgian judge is meanwhile planning to send a team of experts, including doctors, to Britain in an attempt to prevent Gen Pinochet leaving the country.
A Belgian magistrate, Mr Georges-Henri Beauthier, who filed the request on behalf of six Chilean plaintiffs, wants Britain to allow new tests conducted by a British doctor supervised by a Belgian doctor.
Amnesty International called for Gen Pinochet's medical tests to be made public, saying it was impossible to pass judgment without seeing the evidence.
"There are serious grounds for questioning the composition of the medical team, the procedures adopted by the team and hence their conclusions," Amnesty said.
Spanish lawyers seeking his extradition have also demanded a second medical opinion.