Peru's Fujimori under fire, won't resign now

Fujimori

LIMA (Reuters) -- Embattled Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori on Tuesday rejected calls for his immediate resignation and sought to allay fears of a military coup, saying that the armed forces were under his control.

Fujimori has come under fire at home and abroad the past two days over the return to Peru of his reviled former spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, and government proposals to tie elections promised for next year to an amnesty for rights abuses.

Montesinos was considered Fujimori's go-between with the military and one of Peru's most powerful men, but left the country last month over a corruption scandal. Amid the scandal, Fujimori called elections for next July and said he would stand down then.

Speaking at a news conference in the early hours of Tuesday, Fujimori said he would stay on as president despite calls he step down.

"I am not going to take the easy way out at a moment of crisis, because I am going to continue at the head of the country so that it remains viable," he said, in a clear reference to his deputy, Francisco Tudela, who quit Monday over the amnesty plan.

The return of Montesinos after Panama rejected his bid for asylum there set off fears of a coup. But Fujimori, after a day spent touring military installations, assured he was still in command of the military. "I am in control of the armed forces," Fujimori said.

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