The US has detained the daughter of former Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet at Washington's Dulles Airport on tax evasion charges, the State Department said yesterday.

 

The State Department said that Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, 64, "was denied entry into the US as a result of an arrest warrant issued by the Chilean government."

 

The arrest warrant was related to tax evasion charges made against the daughter of the former Chilean ruler in Chile, the State Department said.

 

Media reports said that Pinochet Hiriart was intercepted on a flight from Argentina and she fled to Argentina one day before the Chilean authorities made the tax evasion charges against her.

 

Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973-1990 and has been accused of committing rights abuses during his rule and he has been under trial in Chile for his alleged crimes.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2006)