Chilean government investigators have repeatedly dismissed family wealth or government service as the real sources of General Pinochet's money in the Riggs accounts.

Senator Shelby questioned Mr. Hawke about possible problems with Riggs accounts from other countries, including Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan and Syria.

The examination of Mr. Lee's activities appears to focus largely on his involvement with General Pinochet's Riggs accounts, which the bank closed two years ago.

Saudi representatives said that investigators had told them that their Riggs accounts were not tainted.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that regulators were examining $50 million in Saudi withdrawals from Riggs accounts, some in increments exceeding $1 million.

Senate records show that the Riggs accounts held $4 million to $8 million from 1994 to 2002.

Senate records of Riggs accounts show large payments by American oil companies into accounts of Equatorial Guinean officials and their relatives, sometimes in increments as high as $250,000.

The mailing address for one of the general's Riggs accounts, it turns out, is a park in downtown Santiago, across the street from military headquarters.

The former dictator had up to $8m in Riggs accounts, though his pay as head of the army in 1998 was a mere $10,057 a year.

The Chilean Congress is planning today to consider establishing a commission to determine if General Pinochet's Riggs accounts held looted government money.