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Ex-Argentine leader Peron faces new charges in Spain

25 Jan 2007 17:01:05 GMT
Source: Reuters

MADRID, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Former Argentine President Isabel Peron faced new charges in Spain on Thursday over her alleged authorization of killings, torture and kidnappings of leftist dissidents during her 1974-1976 rule.

An Argentine judge wants to extradite her over links to an anti-communist death squad that operated during her chaotic 20-month rule, a spokeswoman for Spain's high court said.

Peron, 75, was arrested by Spanish police at her home near Madrid on Jan. 12 after another Argentine judge ordered her to return to Argentina to answer questions about the disappearance in 1976 of a student activist last seen being taken into custody by state security officials.

She was released from custody but must appear at a police station every 15 days while Spain awaits an Argentine extradition request.

Peron was sworn in as Argentine president in 1974 after the death of her husband, three times president Juan Domingo Peron.

She struggled to hold on to power amid violence between leftist guerrillas and anti-communist death squads.

She was deposed in a 1976 coup that ushered in seven years of "Dirty War," during which between 11,000 and 30,000 dissidents were kidnapped and killed.

Peron has lived in exile in Spain since 1981.

Spanish high court judge Juan Del Olmo on Thursday informed Peron of an Argentine arrest warrant for her in connection with three decrees she approved that called on the armed forces to "annihilate" so-called "subversive elements".

Argentine Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide issued the warrant on Jan. 16 over her alleged links to a death squad called the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance or Triple A.

Prosecutors say the architect of the Triple A was Peron's social welfare minister, Jose Lopez Rega. Human rights activists say the group killed up to 2,000 people before the dictatorship.

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Last updated:Thu Jan 25 17:03:05 2007