Sunday April 11 8:35 PM ET
Dalai Lama Suggests Chile's Pinochet Be Forgiven
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, suggested Sunday that Chileans should forgive former dictator Augusto Pinochet for alleged human rights abuses during his 17-year regime because he is an old man.
``In the Pinochet case, as an individual, now old,'' it might be worth it to forgive him, the Dalai Lama told reporters in Santiago.
The 83-year-old Pinochet, who ruled with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990, is under house arrest in Britain waiting for Home Secretary Jack Straw to decide if he should be extradited to Spain to face charges of human rights abuses.
More than 3,000 people, dozens of them Spaniards, died or disappeared during purges against leftists in Chile in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Dalai Lama said Straw's decision should be respected.
``I feel under the law, everybody is equal. So according to law, whatever decision is taken we should support that,'' he said.
The Tibetan religious leader, dressed in his traditional burgundy robe, called for reconciliation among Chileans long divided by political events of the 1970s and 1980s.
``I think forgiveness is important, but forgiveness does not mean to forget about what happened,'' he said.
Pinochet came to power in a 1973 coup that overturned the elected Marxist government of President Salvador Allende. He is admired by the right for ousting Allende and reforming the nation's economy but is despised by the left for years of repression and human rights abuses.
The Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, compared the need for reconciliation in Chile to his own nonviolent efforts to open a dialogue with China about autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.
The Dalai Lama, who said he is on a mission to promote human values and harmony among religions, arrived in Chile Sunday for a five-day visit after visiting Argentina and Brazil.
He is to speak with President Eduardo Frei in an unofficial, private meeting Tuesday, said an official from the Tibet Foundation in Chile.