Fugitive Kills Himself on Argentinian Tv

A former Argentinian police commander wanted for human rights abuses during the country's dictatorship has killed himself on television to escape arrest.

Mario Ferreyra, 63, pulled a gun from his boot and shot himself in the head on Friday as police arrived at his home to arrest him on charges arising from the disappearance, torture and death of dissidents during Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship. The suicide was filmed by a TV crew that had just finished interviewing him.

Police took him to hospital, but he was dead on arrival. The Crónica TV network broadcast the interview and its bloody denouement, but was later barred by a judge from replaying the footage.

Ferreyra was accused of kidnapping and torturing dissidents at a secret detention center in Tocuman province. Human rights groups say up to 30,000 people were killed during the so-called dirty war.

Victims' relatives said Ferreyra's suicide was part of a pact of silence to protect fellow security force members who participated in crimes. Another explanation was that he could not bear the prospect of years in jail. In interviews last week he said he would take a "drastic decision" rather than surrender.

His widow, Maria, accused the authorities of inventing crimes against her husband. "He has left me documents to demonstrate his innocence," she said.

Ferreyra, who wore a trademark cowboy hat and black shirt, had long been a controversial figure. After democracy was restored he remained a police chief and was implicated in the harassment of Peronist politicians.

Justice caught up with him in 1993, when he was convicted of murdering three crime suspects two years earlier.