Fujimori arrives in Japan, silent on asylum rumor

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- His grip on power eroding at home, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori arrived in Tokyo on Friday and was tightlipped about rumors that he was seeking political asylum in the land of his forefathers.

"No comment," Fujimori told reporters after stepping off a flight from Kuala Lumpur, apparently en route home from a brief trip to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Brunei.

RESOURCES Alberto Fujimori pictoral timeline: a decade in power   MESSAGE BOARD Peru in transition     ALSO Peru's Fujimori not seeking asylum, says Malaysian prime minister Peru opposition gains control of Congress from Fujimori supporters

The rumors that the embattled Fujimori might seek asylum in Asia surfaced after he flew to Brunei to spend just a few hours at the Asia-Pacific summit, leaving behind him political turmoil at home.

Fujimori smiled but kept silent when asked whether he planned to remain in Tokyo.

However, his office issued a statement saying he was in Japan to discuss financial assistance for Peru.

"Following the APEC meeting, he will travel to Tokyo, where he will conduct a series of interviews with Japanese authorities to gain credit for the republic to balance its budget for the year 2001," the statement said.

Embassy officials said they expected his trip to be brief.

"I think the president will be attending the Latin-American meeting in Panama," said Peruvian Consul-General Sanchez Gomez as Fujimori arrived at his hotel in central Tokyo.

Latin American presidents have already begun gathering in Panama for a weekend summit that aims to target poverty affecting young people in the region.

Fujimori had said he might visit Japan to try to raise funds for Peru's battered economy.

A bribery scandal involving Fujimori's fugitive ex-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, plunged Peru into political crisis two months ago, prompting the president to announce he would quit in July after elections in April, four years early.

Fujimori has said he will not run in the elections.

He suffered a new blow at home on Thursday when Peru's opposition took over the powerful presidency of Congress for the first time in eight years, further eroding his grip on power and opening the way for possible moves to oust him.

As expected, moderate congress member Valentin Paniagua was elected president of Congress, constitutionally the fourth most powerful post in Peru after Fujimori and his two vice presidents, beating a government rival by a comfortable 13-vote margin.

It is the first time the opposition has headed the legislature since Fujimori closed a divided Congress in 1992 and awarded himself near-dictatorial powers in a "self-coup."

That allowed him to clamp an iron grip on the legislature when it reopened packed with his supporters, something that had eluded him for the first two years of his rule from 1990-92. His sway over the legislature then remained intact until a political crisis erupted in September.

In Lima, political analysts said even if the opposition did not immediately try to oust Fujimori, the presidency of Congress would give them the means to push him out of office if Peru's political turmoil took a turn for the worse.

With imminent changes in the cabinet, there appeared no respite to the crisis, which was aggravated further when the government felt obliged to deny reports that Fujimori was seeking political asylum in Malaysia.

But it was unclear when Fujimori would return to Peru.

Peru's political turmoil has centered on Montesinos, who fled to Panama after the scandal broke in September but defied Fujimori three weeks ago by returning to Peru and sparking a major manhunt led personally by the president.

The ex-spy chief is now wanted on a host of charges from money laundering to ordering torture and murder after some $58 million was found in overseas bank accounts linked to him.

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