London - The British Home Office yesterday denied new claims that the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, had disqualified himself from deciding on the extradition of Chile's former dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet because of his political activity as a student.
Law Lords are due to rule on Wednesday on whether Gen Pinochet can be extradited from Britain to Spain on charges of murder, torture and kidnapping. If they approve the move, Mr Straw would make the ultimate decision on whether to send him to Madrid.
Sunday newspaper reports quoted a man who accompanied Mr Straw on a 1966 student trip to Chile claiming that he had taken tea with Salvador Allende, who went on to become Chile's leader and died in the 1973 coup in which Gen Pinochet seized power.
But a Home Office spokesman insisted yesterday that Mr Straw had not met Allende on his student trip, and had not demonstrated against Pinochet on his return.
