UPDATE : Honecker a Prisoner of the Past : Three countries are deadlocked over the fate of the ailing former East German leader.

Beyond the tall fence surrounding the handsome new Chilean Embassy, an old man can sometimes be seen strolling the frozen grounds. His world is defined by the steel fence; he dares not venture past it.

Erich Honecker, the former East German leader whose Stalinist regime was defined by the formidable Berlin Wall, now finds himself the de facto prisoner of a simple fence and an open gate.

Three nations are now deadlocked over the fate of the 79-year-old Honecker, who fled manslaughter charges in Germany a year ago and was given sanctuary in the Soviet Union.

When the superpower crumbled, Russia decided to deport the Communist hard-liner, but Honecker could find no country to grant him asylum.

Returning to Germany, reunited since he fled, would mean standing trial for the deaths of more than 200 East Germans killed while trying to escape to the West during his 20-year regime.

So, on Dec. 11, Honecker slipped into the Chilean Embassy, where the ambassador, Clodomiro Almeyda Medina, welcomed him and his wife, Margot, as old friends. Honecker had granted the ambassador, then a socialist party leader, exile in East Germany during the right-wing Pinochet regime in Chile.

But the Russians have warned that they will arrest Honecker should he leave the grounds.

Now the Chileans say Honecker, reportedly suffering from cancer, has been examined by Russian government doctors and needs to go to a hospital.

On Thursday, a German Embassy spokesman in Moscow said Russia has agreed to let Honecker leave his sanctuary for hospital treatment, but it was not clear what might happen to him next.

Wary of angering Germany, Chile initially rejected Honecker’s request for political asylum but said he could stay in its embassy indefinitely. This week, the Chilean government said it would give refuge to Honecker if Russia would grant him safe conduct from the embassy. The Honeckers’ married daughter lives in Chile.

“Part of the Chilean tradition is to give asylum or help people in difficult political situations,” said embassy spokesman Gonzalo Garcia-Huidobro.

Margot Honecker is not accused of any crimes, but Garcia-Huidobro said she does not leave the compound often. He said the Honeckers would not grant an interview.

And while the embassy is pleasant, Garcia-Huidobro said, the Honeckers’ movements are restricted. “No matter how nice a prison is, it is still a prison,” he declared.