[originaltext] Former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet is living in a gilded c

Former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet is living in a gilded cage as he waits under house arrest in a luxury villa for Britain’s highest court to rule on his fate for a second time.
   The Conservative British paper The Daily Telegraph, granted an exclusive opportunity to photograph the 83-year-old former general, counted up to nine armed policemen in and around the property in Surrey, to the southwest of London.
   Three inspectors from Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist unit are permanently posted in one of the building’s nine rooms, close to the main door which is guarded by two porters.
   Other officers patrol with police dogs, searching visitors and their vehicles.
   Members of the Surrey police force also maintain surveillance on the property in the exclusive suburb of Wentworth. Home Secretary Jack Straw allocated an additional 200,000 pounds in early March to cover policing costs.
   That sum is trifling, however, compared to the millions of pounds already spent on legal costs.
   Police keep bystanders, including journalists, at a distance, as well as the protesters who each Saturday beat drums and chant "murderer" in Pinochet’s direction.
   Authorities are also alert to the possibility of a commando operation aimed at freeing the former general, though this is considered improbable given the good relations between Britain and Chile.
   In permitting Pinochet to stay in the villa, British officials relaxed his conditions of detention. Pinochet is also allowed to step out onto the patio once the yard has been combed by inspectors with sniffer dogs.
   "The police follow him everywhere, even when he goes to the toilet. It’s an intolerable situation, ’an unidentified person close to Pinochet complained to The Daily Telegraph.
   Until now, the former leader has only left Wentworth once, to hear Spain’s formal request for extradition, while a request to attend Christmas Mass was refused.
   He receives visitors--Chilean political allies, diplomats, officials or supporters of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who are indignant at how a man they call a "friend of Great Britain" is being treated.
   Thatcher has spoken out in Pinochet’s defense and cited support he gave Britain during its 1982 war with Argentina over the Malvinas Islands.
   Pinochet starts his day scouring the newspapers and surfing the Internet in search of items concerning himself.