Pinochet stable but seriously ill

SANTIAGO.- Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet remained stable but seriously ill following a heart attack over the weekend, his doctors said on Monday.

The 91-year-old general will remain under observation in a military hospital in the capital Santiago for at least 10 days, they said.

Pinochet had a heart attack on Sunday and was rushed to a hospital for an operation to reopen his arteries.

Before the angioplasty, Pinochet was given the Roman Catholic last rites, traditionally administered by a priest to the dying. His son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, said doctors had brought his father back from the brink of death.

"The patient's life is still in danger. We can't change that”, Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara told reporters. "For the moment we are not considering a new operation".

A top Chilean court, meanwhile, ordered Pinochet on Monday freed on bail after his arrest last week in connection with the murder of two men in 1973. Pinochet had the heart attack following his arrest.

Pinochet's latest health problems have rekindled the debate over the retired general's legacy.

Some Chileans regard Pinochet as the man who saved them from Marxism by ousting leftist President Salvador Allende in a 1973 coup, while others view him as a military who should be put on trial for human rights abuses.