Japan government urged to protect Peru's Fujimori

December 14, 2000
Web posted at: 9:33 PM HKT (1333 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- The local government in the ancestral home of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori said on Thursday it was concerned about his safety in Japan and urged the central authorities to do everything possible to protect him.

The prefectural assembly of Kumamoto, on Japan's main southwestern island of Kyushu, planned to adopt a petition next Tuesday recommending the central government give Fujimori the protection it said he needs, a local government official said.

"Even if Fujimori stays in Japan, we are concerned about his safety," the official said. "We want to do something for him because he contributed a great deal to forging strong ties between Japan and Peru, and Kumamoto and Peru."

Since being sacked as Peru's president last month, Fujimori has taken refuge in the land of his forefathers, while investigators back in Peru have said they would use all means possible to force him to testify over his links to his former spy-chief who is wanted on corruption charges.

Fujimori has refused to return to Peru, saying he had no guarantees for his personal safety or that he would receive a fair hearing in a government now led by one of his veteran opponents in Congress, interim President Valentin Paniagua.

Tokyo on Tuesday confirmed that Fujimori has Japanese nationality, a status that allows him to stay and probably avoid facing investigators in Peru.

That raises the prospect of a diplomatic row if Lima's new government asks Tokyo to hand over the former president to face a probe into the scandals that sent him spinning out of office.

Fujimori resigned as president and was then sacked by Peru's Congress days after entering Japan on a diplomatic visa in November.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For more ASIANOW news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about East Asia
East Asian media sites

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.