LONDON -- (AFP) -- As former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet headed home
 from his 16 months under house arrest near London, the British press insisted his
 controversial release had more to do with political expediency than failing health.

 According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, Guardian and Independent, his
 release was the climax of intricate diplomatic maneuvering by the governments of
 Britain, Spain and Chile.

 Each had its own motives for wanting the 84-year-old retired general repatriated
 rather than extradited to Spain to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses
 during his military rule from 1973 to 1990.

 According to the reports:

 Chile, still deeply divided over the legacy of the Pinochet years, feared his death
 in Britain would turn him into a right-wing martyr.

 Spain, keen to protect political and economic ties with Chile, and mindful of its
 own past under strongman Francisco Franco, did not want him on trial in Madrid.

 Nor did Britain want the embarrassment of a man seen as a key ally during the
 1982 Falklands War dying under its jurisdiction, according to the reports.

 The dilemma for the governments was that the legal process had to run its
 course.

 Pinochet was arrested in London in October 1998 at the request of Spanish
 magistrate Baltasar Garzon.

 PLAN EMERGES

 In June last year, as the legal row dragged on, British Foreign Secretary Robin
 Cook met his Spanish counterpart, Abel Matutes, in Rio de Janeiro.

 ``I will not let him die in Britain,'' Cook told Matutes, according to The Guardian.
 Matutes replied: ``I will not let him come to Spain,'' the paper said.

 The Daily Telegraph, citing diplomats, said they agreed that the worst outcome
 would be if Pinochet died in Britain or Spain.

 In September, Cook met his Chilean counterpart, Juan Gabriel Valdes, in New
 York. Valdes surprised Cook by foregoing the usual complaints about bilateral
 relations to focus on the general's health.

 According to The Independent, Valdes said Santiago would be able to supply a
 medical report showing that Pinochet's health was deteriorating rapidly.

 It arrived via the Chilean Embassy in London a short while later, and suggested
 Pinochet was unfit to stand trial.

 PINOCHET BRIEFED

 Meanwhile British Home Secretary Jack Straw's legal experts were advising him
 that he could use his discretionary powers to order a release on medical grounds.

 In late September, Chile's ambassador to London, who had never visited the
 general, was replaced by Pablo Cabrera. According to The Guardian, one of his
 first tasks was to brief Pinochet on the health tactic.

 In November, amid increasing signs that Pinochet's health was worsening -- he
 was reported to have suffered two strokes a month before -- Straw offered
 ``confidential'' medical tests.

 Separately, Matutes said that the Spanish government would not pass on any
 appeal by Garzon against Straw's final decision.

 The medical tests were conducted on Jan. 5 and concluded ``unequivocally and
 unanimously'' that Pinochet was mentally unfit to stand trial

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald