Former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet is receiving a medical examination in a London hospital to determine his fitness for extradition to Spain to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

The examination is being conducted at the Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, north London, at the request of the Chilean authorities, a BBC report said.

Pinochet, 84, is said to have suffered a number of small strokes since he was placed under house arrest in London more than a year ago. The retired general is thought to be suffering from heart disease, diabetes and depression.

The medical tests are expected to take all day and no immediate result is expected.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the team of doctors would be ledby two specialists, one in diseases of old age and the other in neurology, adding that every member of the team is an expert in his field.

The official said the doctors' report would not be published and would be seen only by Home Secretary Jack Straw, government legal advisers and Pinochet.

Straw has the last word on Pinochet's extradition to Spain.

Pinochet was arrested in October 1998 while recovering from a minor back operation in a London hospital.

A Spanish judge accused him of being responsible for the deathsand disappearances of 3,000 people during his 17-year rule in Chile, which ended in 1991, and wants him extradited to Spain to answer the charges. (Xinhua)