Peru's National Election Council confirmed on Tuesday that it has officially banned jailed former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori from taking part in the upcoming presidential election.

Fujimori's candidacy is inadmissible because "he is subject to a special disqualification", the council's ruling said.

The Peruvian media reported the decision unofficially on Sunday, two days after Fujimori's eldest daughter Keiko, along with more than 1,000 supporters, registered the 67-year-old ex-president for the April 9 presidential election.

Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000, is currently in jail in Chile. He fled Peru to Japan in November 2000 after a corruption scandal toppled his government.

He is wanted by the Peruvian government on 21 separate criminal charges including involvement in the murder of 25 citizens, embezzlement of public funds and dereliction of duty. The Peruvian parliament also banned him from assuming public office for 10 years until 2011.

After five years in exile in Tokyo, Fujimori traveled to Chile last November and wanted to return to Peru to run the upcoming presidential elections but was arrested by Chilean police at Lima's request.

Some supporters of Fujimori, however, still see him as a successful leader who ended the economic chaos of the 1980s in Peru.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)