Global Policy Forum

An international arrest warrant has been issued for Argentina's former president Carlos Menem. A judge asked Interpol to track him down after he failed to turn up in court for a corruption investigation.

He lives in neighbouring Chile, where the authorities have previously suggested they would cooperate with any extradition request.

Mr Menem, 73, is accused of fraudulent use of public funds during his 10 years as president from 1989.

Vendetta claims

He was allegedly involved in the embezzlement of up to $60m during the building of two prisons.

Mr Menem is also facing investigation into undeclared funds held in Swiss bank accounts, and charges of arms trafficking to Ecuador and Croatia during his time in office.

Jorge Urso, the federal judge investigating the embezzlement case, has called in the former president for questioning on three previous occasions, but Mr Menem failed to turn up each time.

He claims he is the victim of a political vendetta orchestrated by the government of Nestor Kirchner, who defeated him in Argentina's last presidential elections.

Brought stability

The ex-leader - who is married to a former Miss Universe and has an infant son - has vowed not to go before a judge again, having been imprisoned three times before.

"If I carry on like that, I'll spend my life in prison," he has said.

The BBC's Elliott Gotkine in Buenos Aires says when Mr Menem first became president in 1989, he was seen as something of an economic saviour, bringing stability to a country buffeted by hyperinflation and rising unemployment.

But by the time he left office a decade later, his administration was already being accused of rampant corruption, says our correspondent.