dictator General Augusto Pinochet on the Island's stop list, it was revealed yesterday.

But although the move -- taken last week -- has the power to prevent Mr.

Pinochet from passing through Bermuda immigration, it may not have any control over whether the 84-year-old's specially-fitted Boeing 707 can land here or not.

And, while he supports the decision, Shadow Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Michael Dunkley criticised Government for making it "under a veil of secrecy''.

A memorandum, dated January 25, was leaked to the media after being sent by Chief Immigration Officer Martin Brewer to the Airport Immigration, Customs and Police departments along with several airlines and travel agents.

It announced that Minister Paula Cox had placed the 84-year-old Pinochet on the Island's stop list. Ms Cox refused to comment on the decision yesterday.

But the move was applauded by Mr. Dunkley, who said: "We support the minister's decision and that decision is supported by the community.

"Bermuda has a record for trying to do the right thing and we certainly don't need to be seen to be accommodating a gentleman such as him.'' But Mr. Dunkley also asked why the Government felt this decision had to be made "under a veil of secrecy''.

"I don't think sending a decision like that by mail is a very expedient way of carrying out Government business,'' he said. "Pinochet could have been and gone in the time it took the mail to reach the relavent authorities.

"They should have put the information out to the public as soon as it was made, even if only to put people's minds at rest.'' Bermuda was thrust into the international spotlight last month when a Chilean Air Force plane arrived here and waited at the airport for two weeks after UK Home Secretary Jack Straw said he was ready to release Pinochet on the grounds that he was "unfit'' to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses dating back to the latter years of his 1973 to 1990 regime.

But, with a ruling still in the works, the plane left the Island last week and is now on stand-by at Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, England.

Amidst speculation the general could stop to refuel in Bermuda on his way back home from extradition proceedings, The Royal Gazette quoted human rights advocate Rod Attride-Stirling who called for Bermuda to do everything it could to prevent him from landing here.

He called for the former dictator, who is alleged to have been responsible for more than 3,000 deaths and disappearances during his rule, to be placed on the stop list, saying: "There is no one more deserving to be on that list than he.'' "He is a cold-blooded, common murderer,'' he added.

Asked in the story whether Pinochet was already on Bermuda's stop list, Ms Cox said she did not know.

But she added that Bermuda's capacity to bar unwanted people from its soil only extended to those who wanted to enter through the official immigration channels and could not stop a plane from landing and staying on the airport's tarmac.

The ailing general was arrested in London in October 1998 after Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon expressed intentions to try him for his alleged crimes.

Following Mr. Straw's decision not to try Pinochet, on medical grounds, several human rights groups and European nations have attempted to stop the ailing strongman's repatriation, claiming Mr. Straw should make public the medical results on which he based his opinion.

Legal action aimed at forcing a review of Pinochet's release, brought by Belgium and human rights organisations, is currently before Britain's High Courts.

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