Santiago: A warrant placing former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet under house arrest on charges of murder and kidnapping has been suspended following an appeal by his lawyers.

Court officials said the house arrest warrant issued earlier in the day by Judge Juan Guzman Tapia will now have to be reviewed by an appeals court.

Relatives of those who disappeared under Pinochet's 1973-1990 iron-rule had earlier cheered yesterday's (Dec 13, 2004) move by the judge, while his lawyers maintained he was too frail to face trial.

The development marked the end of a roller-coaster day for the elderly dictator, who faces the prospect of being put on trial for the first time if the appeals court decision goes against him.

Judge Guzman Tapia earlier ordered 89-year-old Pinochet's arrest based on evidence concerning nine persons killed as part of "Operation Condor", a confabulation of 1970s South American military dictatorships to kill their opponents and spirit away their bodies.

"It is hard to say with words what it was like to hear this indictment by a judge," said a visibly moved Viviana Diaz, head of Families of Missing Detainees, one of the main anti-Pinochet groups, after Guzman Tapia's ruling.

Pinochet's lawyer, Pablo Rodriguez said Pinochet was too old to stand trial.

"This is an abuse of the most basic human rights of a person who is put on trial without being able to defend himself," Rodriguez said, hours before the appeals court suspended Guzman Tapia's ruling.