Pinochet denied state funeral

Santiago: Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet will not receive a state funeral but will have military honours, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

Pinochet died on Sunday at 91, a week after suffering from heart attack. He had put Chile under a 17-year military rule marked by human rights abuses.

"The deceased former general shall receive the honors of a former commander in chief of the Army," Ricardo Lagos Weber said. Flags would fly at half-staff at army facilities, he said.

The Army said that a Mass would be held on Tuesday for Pinochet, who died in a military hospital, at the Escuela Military school.

The late general's death drew varied reactions at home and abroad.

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was "greatly saddened" by Pinochet's death, while political parties in Spain said they regretted that he had died before being brought to justice for crimes committed under his regime.