SANTIAGO (AFP) - Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet denied knowing of Operation Condor, a conspiracy of 1970s South American dictatorships to eliminate opponents, in testimony.
"Neither Condor nor any of that was my problem," Pinochet told Judge Juan Guzman Tapia.
"No, I do not remember, and it was not my problem," said Pinochet, 88.
On Saturday, Guzman Tapia took Pinochet's testimony, which was released on Monday.
Pinochet ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973-1990, while some 3,000 persons were killed by the regime, according to an official count. However, Pinochet has yet to be tried.
Condor comprised a secret agreement between military governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, which cooperated in chasing down opponents and disposing of their bodies in each others' countries.
Pinochet has so far avoided trial by claiming ill health, mental and physical.
Pinochet answered that he could recall the name of his intelligence chief, Manuel Contreras, who headed the dreaded DINA secret police. Contreras has already served a prison sentence for rights violations.
"First, there was Contreras, then (Humberto) Gordon. After that, I do not know. The intelligence service was run by mid-level officers.
I was the president of the republic and as president of the republic, I was informed on national security, not small-time security.
"Everyone is a subordinate when one is president of the republic," Pinochet said.
Pinochet enjoyed immunity from prosecution as a former president, until Chile's Supreme Court revoked his immunity last month. Pinochet has maintained his innocence.
After the deposition, Guzman Tapia was to decide whether to charge Pinochet for the crimes committed by secret agents who were involved in Operation Condor.
It was Pinochet's second encounter with Guzman Tapia, who interrogated and charged him in 2001 in connection with the "Caravan of Death" case," in which a band of officers roamed the country summarily executing suspected opponents shortly after the September 1973 coup that propelled Pinochet to power.
Pinochet was placed under house arrest for six weeks between February and March 2001, but in July 2002 he was declared mentally unfit by Chile's Supreme Court to stand trial on murder and kidnapping charges.
However, a 2003 interview with a Spanish-language Miami television station -- in which Pinochet appeared to be lucid and witty -- followed by a US Senate investigation showing that Pinochet had salted away at least eight million dollars in Riggs Bank in Washington, persuaded the courts to allow the retired general to stand trial.
During Pinochet's 17-year rule, some 3,000 people, by official accounting, were murdered or "disappeared" while under state custody and are presumed to have been murdered.
Chile's State Defense Council, which oversees government assets, said Pinochet's accounts in the US bank could total 16 million dollars. The council is investigating whether Pinochet embezzled the funds.
Pinochet's health was to be examined on Thursday to evaluate if he is well enough to stand trial. Guzman Tapia ordered the check-up after the former dictator repeatedly showed fatigue during his 45-minute interrogation Saturday.