General Augusto Pinochet from possible extradition may keep a Chilean Air Force plane in Bermuda a few days longer.

The Boeing 707, named "Aguila'' has been on the Airport's tarmac since last Tuesday evening when it landed to refuel, en route to pick up the former Chilean dictator from Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, England.

The plane had been speedily dispatched from northern Chile after UK Home Secretary Jack Straw said he was minded to release the general on the grounds that he was medically "unfit'' to stand trial.

Pinochet has been detained at his house near London since October 1998 when he was arrested there at the behest of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who wanted to try him for human rights abuses dating back to the end years of his 1973 to 1990 military regime.

But Chilean military officials confirmed on Thursday that the mission, nicknamed "Operation Return'' by Chilean television, had been frozen until Mr. Straw made a final decision, with the help of representations from interested parties, including Pinochet's lawyers and human rights groups.

One group, Amnesty International, criticised the Home Office for not releasing the details of a recent medical examination on Pinochet, a spokesman saying they wanted to see "evidence'' of his frailty.

Yesterday, in a story by the Associated Press, Amnesty International spokesman Richard Bunting said the release of such reports would be "in the best interests of all sides''.

"If Pinochet is as ill as claimed, it would speed the process up considerably if the prosecution was able to see the records and agree,'' he added. "There is nothing really to be gained by secrecy.'' And on Friday, local human rights advocate Rod Attride-Stirling charged that Bermuda should do everything it could to stop Pinochet from stopping on the Island if he was released to go back to Chile. But the possibility of that scenario arising seems even further away now with the news that Mr. Straw wrote to interested parties on Friday asking for more information before making a final ruling.

A story by Reuters news agency quoted a Home Office spokeswoman as saying he had "invited them to clarify certain points in their representation''.

She added that the deadline for these comments would be today at 5 p.m. UK time.

Another Reuters story said yesterday that the decision was likely to be delayed even further due to last-minute objections from the government of Belgium, one of the countries that wants to see Pinochet tried for the deaths and disappearances of more than 3,000 people during his rule.

A source close to the Belgian foreign ministry was quoted as saying: "(Pinochet's) definitely not going back on Tuesday.'' "Belgium wants a new medical investigation on an objective and independently verifiable basis,'' the source told Reuters, "and we told Straw that we'd go to court if he didn't accede to that request.'' The source added that Belgium's foreign minister had raised concerns about Pinochet's recent unpublished medical examination results. "There are questions about the secrecy and the qualifications of those who did it,'' it said."They want a new investigation with one of their own doctors present.'' IMMIGRATION IMM CLUB CLB