waiting for word from Britain whether former dictator General Augusto Pinochet will be released from custody.

Deputy Governor Tim Gurney said yesterday that permission for the plane to land at Brize Norton Air Force base in Oxfordshire, England had been extended for several days.

And Amnesty International announced yesterday that it and other human rights groups would be seeking court action over UK Home Secretary Jack Straw's announcement that Pinochet was medically "unfit'' to stand trial for human rights abuses dating back to his 1973 and 1990 regime.

This and action from Belgium, which is campaigning for Pinochet's extradition also, could serve to put off Mr. Straw's final decision in the matter until at least the end of the week.

And so, after a week of sitting at Bermuda's airport, the specially-fitted Boeing 707 that was dispatched from northern Chile to bring Pinochet will wait along with the rest of the world, pending which direction the saga takes next.

Mr. Straw is wading through representations from several interested parties, including Pinochet's lawyers, countries and human rights groups.

Amnesty International criticised the Home Office earlier this month for not making public the medical results that had led Mr. Straw to say he thought Pinochet was too ill to stand trial.

Yesterday, the organisation released a Press statement saying: "We believe that this has not been the case for this instance and will be presenting our arguments to the High Court.'' The release also said Amnesty International was concerned that "politics might be influencing the way this case is being handled'' and that their actions were "in the interests of the victims''.

A story by the Associated Press yesterday reported that Belgium was planning to start court proceedings on Thursday demanding a new medical examination of Pinochet. The 84-year-old was arrested in London in October 1998 after Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon decided he wanted to try him for the deaths and disappearances of more than 3,000 people during his rule.