Peru's disgraced ex-President Alberto Fujimori, wanted there on human rights abuse and corruption charges, was arrested during a surprise visit to Chile, Peru's foreign minister said late on Sunday.
 
Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, has been a fugitive in his ancestral homeland Japan since he fled there in November 2000, when a corruption scandal toppled his government. He flew from Japan to Chile on Sunday to try to relaunch his political career and run for president next year.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Oscar Maurtua told reporters in Lima that Fujimori had been arrested by Chilean police and moved from his hotel. It was unclear where he had been taken.

"The Chilean courts have just issued an arrest warrant for Alberto Fujimori following a request by Peru ... He's been arrested," Maurtua told reporters in a late night briefing.

Chilean police were not immediately available for comment.

"It is my aim to temporarily remain in Chile as part of my efforts to return to Peru and keep my promise to an important part of the Peruvian people who have called on me to be a candidate in the 2006 elections," Fujimori, 67, said in a statement released earlier in Peru and Chile.

Fujimori said in October he would run for president despite being barred from political activity due to 21 criminal charges against him. These included corruption and political responsibility for the death squad murders of 25 people, including a child, in the early 1990s.

Fujimori arrived in Chile at a time of tense relations between Chile and Peru, after Peru's Congress passed a law last week in an attempt to reclaim sea territory from Chile.

Under Chilean law, Fujimori could not be arrested at the airport because local courts must process international arrest warrants to make them valid.

"There are several international arrest warrants against Alberto Fujimori, which are not legally valid in Chile," said Maria Elena Gomez, the local chief of the International Police. She said Fujimori is free to leave Chile as long as the courts have not issued a warrant.

However, Peru's Maurtua said he was now barred from leaving the country.

Japan refused to extradite Fujimori

Peru was planning to launch a suit at the International Court in The Hague this year to try to force Japan to send the former president to Peru for trial.

Japan had refused to extradite Fujimori, born in Peru to Japanese immigrants, because he obtained citizenship after moving there in 2000.

Ernesto Velit, an independent political analyst in Lima, said Fujimori's arrival in Chile was probably only a stop on his way to Peru to face charges.

"I believe he's been forced to by the Japanese government because Japan doesn't want to be criticized by an international court for not handing him over," Velit told Reuters. "It will obviously strengthen his political image because he's facing the charges."

Fujimori's right-hand man, former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, is in prison after spinning a web of cash for favors to keep Fujimori in power.

Still, many Peruvians remember Fujimori in a good light, for crushing left-wing rebels, controlling hyperinflation and bringing electricity and schools to remote villages.

Hundreds of his supporters gathered in central Lima on Sunday, many wearing his political color, orange, waving balloons and blowing whistles in a planned meeting to launch the alliance of three political groups that support his election campaign.

Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the issue.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies November 7, 2005)