Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet said in Santiago Saturday that he was willing to assume full responsibility for what had happened during his 17 years of rule.

Pinochet made the gesture in a statement issued on Saturday when some 70 supporters of the former Chilean military junta leader gathered outside his residence in Santiago to celebrate his 91st birthday.

In the statement which was read out by his wife, Pinochet also defended the military coup he staged in 1973 to topple democratically elected President Salvador Allende.

"Today, near the end of my days. I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody," he stated. "I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done, which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration."

Pinochet has been indicted on hundreds of charges, including kidnapping and murder.

Source: Xinhua