The 82-year-old former strongman, arrested last Friday in his hospital bed in London, vowed yesterday to fight attempts to extradite him to Spain. His lawyers argued that his arrest at a London clinic violated his diplomatic immunity.

The exiled group, Chile Democratico, indicated it will bring the charges in London under a law that allows anyone to launch criminal proceedings as long as they are willing to fund them, today's Guardian newspaper reported. If the proceedings go forward and Pinochet is found guilty, he could face jail sentence.

"If we allow Pinochet to go to Spain, it will be very difficult to get him back here,'' group spokeswoman Julia Gonzales told the newspaper.

Chile's ambassador to Britain delivered a formal protest to the foreign officeyesterday. And Pinochet said through his lawyers that he is confident he'll win the legal battle.

``Upon his arrival, he was treated as a VIP,'' said the statement by the London law firm Kingsley Napley. ``Permission for him to enter and stay in this country was stamped in his diplomatic passport.''

Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzon widened the basis of his original detention request to include charges of genocide, torture and murder in the disappearance of 94 people, mostly Chileans. Diplomatic immunity does not apply in cases of genocide.