If any one judge in Spain was ever going to convince the British authorities to arrest General Pinochet it was always going to be Baltasar Garzon.

He has a formidable reputation in Spain as a hard-working incorruptable and highly principled investigator winning the respect of millions of Spaniards for several high profile cases in recent years.

Judge Garzon wants to extend the charges against the general

He's also gained many enemies. A Socialist, he gained prominence for his actions against the semi-official (GAL) death squads which operated in Spain's Basque region in the early 1980s.

That ended with the former Socialist Interior Minister, Jose Barrionuevo, in prison. But his inpartiality is not questioned since he's also investigated the Basque separatist movement, ETA.

Political ambitions

Baltasar Garzon is also known to harbour political ambitions and spent several months as a junior minister in the previous Socialist government.

He walked out saying he wasn't being given the tools to do the job however party sources said he was upset about being passed over for higher posts.

Anti-Pinochet protestors view Judge Garzon as a hero

The 42-year-old judge has been accused of actively seeking publicity but his investigations into the torture and killings by the Argentinian military regime in the 1970s and 80s and the parallel investigation by his colleague, Manuel Garcia Castellon, had somewhat stalled.