The High Court said, however, that Pinochet should remain under detention to enable the British prosecutor's office to appeal to the country's highest court, the House of Lords.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham, ruled that 82-year-old Pinochet was ``entitled to immunity as former sovereign from the criminal and civil process of the English courts.''

But he said he must remain under arrest. ``pending determination of any appeal against his decision.''

Pinochet has been under police guard since October 16 at a private London clinic where is recovering from back surgery.

He was arrested after a request by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon who wants to extradite him to Spain for questioning over the alleged torture and murder of Spanish citizens during his 1973-1990 dictatorship.

Meanwhile,Pinochet is ``resigned'' to his fate, his son said on Tuesday in an interview with Chilean television from London.

``When I saw him, I found him very weak. He has gone very thin and I believe he has lost between 10 and 15 kg,'' Marco Antonio said during the evening news on Canal 13 television channel.

Pinochet's son, who has been in London for the past week, said his father was, ``in a very fragile condition''. After visiting the ailing general on Tuesday, he said, ``If the situation continues.. I don't see much hope of him recovering.''

He said Pinochet had been making good recovery after back surgery on October 9 but that since his arrest on October 16 on a warrant issued by Spain, his condition had deteriorated.

``In the beginning, before he was aware of what was going on, he had improved significantly,'' but, ``when he began to feel the pressure and to realise that there were problems, he went into depression and has made virtually no progress since,'' his son said.

``In view of his presentcondition, I don't think he could stand'' a long legal battle, said Marco Antonio. He said his father had lost his will to fight.

Pinochet's press secretary Fernando Martinez Collins on Tuesday denied press reports that Pinochet was to be moved from the London clinic to another facility.

Martinez said that even though the clinic's directors and the other patients there had complained about the problems generated by Pinochet's presence, they had not suggested he be moved.

Earlier, Chilean Right Wing Senator Francisco Prat, who is now in London, told Chilean journalists that ``within the next 24 hours'', Pinochet would be transferred from the clinic to another hospital.

Prat said the London clinic had taken the decision after demonstrations near the building which had forced the staff to move patients from rooms facing the street, to other rooms.

In Santiago, the daughter of the late Chilean leftist President Savador Allende who died during Pinochet's coup in 1973, told AFP in a recentinterview that the reactions of Chile's right wingers since Pinochet's arrest showed their ``lack of democratic convictions''.

Allende, who is a socialist member of parliament, called for justice for Pinochet's victims but she said it would take 50 years for Chile's wounds to heal.

Allende said she was ``very satisfied'' at Pinochet's arrest and wanted him to be returned to Chile ``on condition that guarantees be obtained for him to be tried in Chile, or ascertained to be terminally ill''.

Pinochet is awaiting a ruling Wednesday by London's high court on whether his arrest was legal.

Pinochet remained under police guard at the clinic where he was arrested after a request by a Spanish magistrate who wants to extradite him for questioning over alleged genocide, torture and terrorism during his 1973-1990 dictatorship.

For the first time, Pinochet now also faces the threat of prosecution in Britain, as lawyers acting for three Chilean exiles living here and a fourth based in Lebanon asked the Britishpublic prosecutor's office to file charges of torture against him.

Any prosecution would be under a 1988 law permitting the prosecution in Britain of public officials guilty of torture in any country, regardless of the nationality of the victims.

Pinochet also faces moves for his extradition from Switzerland, which could be followed by requests from France and Sweden.

The Swiss authorities forwarded a warrant to Interpol in London on Monday requesting Pinochet's arrest with a view to his extradition to face charges over the disappearance in 1977 of a Swiss national, Alexis Jaccard, in Buenos Aires.

In Paris, judicial authorities were studying requests for his extradition there from the relatives of three Franco-Chileans who disappeared during his rule.

A Spanish court will decide on Thursday whether Spain is competent to pursue Pinochet for the crimes he is accused of.

At the London high court, the state prosecutor's lawyers said on Monday that Pinochet was involved in the deaths of ``at least4,000 people'' and denied he had diplomatic immunity.