Buenos Aires - An Argentine judge has asked the United States whether it knew that South American dictatorships co-operated in the systematic abduction of children in the 1970s.
Judge Adolfo Bagnasco, who is investigating the abduction of babies of kidnapped suspected leftists during Argentina's 1976-83 "dirty war", said he had asked the US Justice Department about the Condor Plan.
This was a secret agreement believed to have existed between South American dictatorships to cooperate against leftist dissidents.
"We are asking for more details about the Condor Plan, and asking them to send us information," Bagnasco said.
Secret police archives uncovered in Paraguay after the fall of dictator Alfredo Stroessner in 1989 indicated the existence of the Condor Plan, which was agreed by the military rulers of Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
The military governments never confirmed that the Condor Plan existed.
Aided by the courts, Argentine human rights groups say they have found more than 60 illegally adopted children out of 200 they suspect were stolen from their mothers in secret torture centres.
The investigation has led to the detention of some former senior junta officials, including former dictators like Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and ex-admiral Emilio Massera. All had been pardoned by President Carlos Menem in 1990.
Up to 30 000 people were killed or "disappeared" in the Argentine military's Dirty War against suspected leftist guerrillas and sympathisers. - Reuters