Chile's Pinochet continues to recover
The condition of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet continues to improve and he is no longer in the intensive care unit, the Santiago Military Hospital said Friday.

Pinochet was transferred to an intermediate care room on Thursday, where he will continue his cardiovascular rehabilitation treatment, including physical therapy and breathing assistance, the hospital said in a communique.

The 91-year-old was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after suffering a heart attack, which also triggered a lung edema. The doctors performed an angioplstry to enlarge blocked arteries.

His family and doctors said the heart attack nearly killed Pinochet, but some critics accuse the retired general of exaggerating his illness to avoid prosecution on charges of ordering murder and torture during his 1973 to 1990 rule.

Marco Antonio Pinochet, Augusto's youngest son, said it was ironic the house arrest order slapped on Pinochet on Nov. 27 may have saved his life by forcing him to stay at his home in La Dehesa, which is close to the military hospital.

Without the house arrest, Pinochet would have traveled to Los Boldos, a family property where he likes to spend the summer. That would have meant he was a long way from hospital in the crucial first minutes of his Sunday heart attack.

Lawyers prosecuting Pinochet have said the heart attack was a publicity stunt to draw sympathy and evade criminal punishment, allegations which Marco Antonio described as "conceived by people blinded by rancor".

He added that the military doctors "would not lend themselves to any sort of publicity stunts".