Ecco le agenzie in dettaglio:
Peruvian Rebels Make TV Broadcast
LIMA (Kyodo) - Three men, believed to be rebels of the Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement, broke into a cable television
station in Colombia on Wednesday night and had the crew broadcast
a message that the group will retaliate against Peruvian President
Alberto Fujimori, several Peruvian papers reported Saturday.
In the broadcast, the three masked men claimed that more than
one of their comrades are still alive after the raid on the
Japanese ambassador's residence here and are being held by
authorities. The three later ran away and no one was hurt,
according to the papers. The government has announced that all 14
Tupac Amaru members died on April 22, when the military raided the
residence where the rebels had held 72 VIPs hostage for four
months.
(Source: The Japan Times, Sunday, May 4, 1997)
Japanese PM Thanks Peru's Fujimori For Hostage Rescue
LIMA, May 11 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto flew back to Tokyo late Saturday after thanking Peruvian
President Alberto Fujimori for ordering a raid that abruptly ended
the long hostage crisis last month.
During his 20-hour visit to Lima, Hashimoto praised Peru "for
having carried out the rescue of the hostages admirably after
having made great efforts for four months to find a peaceful
solution to the crisis".
Peruvian troops stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence
here April 22 in a lightning assault to free 72 hostages held by
leftist rebels for four months.
All but one of the hostages survived the raid. Two soldiers
and all 14 Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) rebels also
died.
Throughout the standoff, the Japanese government had
repeatedly called for a peaceful solution, and Hashimoto has said
he was not informed in advance when Fujimori sent in the security
troops.
Hashimoto reaffirmed Japan's commitment to fight terrorism
worldwide "taking into account the recent experience of the
hostage crisis".
The Japanese leader surveyed the remnants of the shattered
residence, which was seized December 17 by the rebels during a
cocktail party in honor of Japan's Emperor Akihito.
After a 40-minute private meeting with Fujimori at the
presidential palace, the Japanese leader posthumously conferred
the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun on the two dead soldiers. He
presented the medals to their families in a ceremony at the
presidential palace.
Later he visited their graves, along with the tomb of hostage
Carlos Giusti, a Peruvian judge who died of a heart attack after
being shot during the raid.
He also honored 140 commandos who participated in the raid
and visited soldiers and ex-hostages recovering in a military
hospital.
One of the last items on Hashimoto's agenda was a private
meeting with Anthony Vincent, Canadian ambassador to Peru. Vincent
had been a hostage, and later was a member of a negotiating
commission that sought to bring a peaceful end to the standoff.
Vincent met with rebel leaders in the compound just hours
before it was stormed.
Hashimoto made no reference to reports based on testimony
from ex-hostages that some of the rebels were executed after
laying down their arms and surrendering to the attacking soldiers.
The Japanese prime minister extended an invitation to
Fujimori and 15 former hostages to visit Japan in the coming
weeks. Fujimori, who is of Japanese descent, is due in Bangladesh
and Vietnam later this month and could combine the trips.
Among those Hashimoto has invited to Tokyo is Foreign
Minister Francisco Tudela, who on Saturday left the military
hospital where he has been recovering from a bullet wound to the
leg.
The Peruvian government, eager to stamp out the MRTA, has
offered a 75,000-dollar reward for information leading to the
capture of Hugo Avellaneda Valdez, founder and now leader of the
guerrilla movement.
Several Lima newspapers published portraits of Peru's
most-wanted rebel next to the announcement of the reward, to which
a full pardon will be added if the informant is in prison.
According to preliminary police reports, Avellaneda commands
a column of young guerrillas and Peruvian, Chilean and Salvadoran
MRTA members in Peru's central jungle region.
Ambassador At Center Of Peru's Hostage Crisis Announces
Resignation
Associated Press, 05/13/97
TOKYO (AP) - Once hailed as a hero and now
criticized as a bungler, Japan's ambassador to Peru
announced his resignation Tuesday over allegations
of lax security at the Lima embassy mansion seized
by rebel hostage-takers.
It was a dramatic reversal for Morihisa Aoki, who
had been widely praised during the 126-day
hostage crisis for gamely working to raise the
morale of fellow captives.
Called before a parliamentary committee Tuesday
to answer questions about the hostage-taking, Aoki
said that he had already offered the government his
resignation.
"I am painfully aware of my responsibility," Aoki
told the committee. Foreign Minister Yukihiko
Ikeda told the lawmakers he intended to accept the
resignation.
Aoki gained hero status in the Japanese press
shortly after the crisis began Dec. 17, when armed
Tupac Amaru rebels stormed a gala reception Aoki
was holding to celebrate the birthday of Japan's
Emperor Akihito.
Aoki reportedly offered to remain as sole hostage if
the rebels released the others. Hostages released
early in the crisis praised him for his bravery and
level head.
Aoki was wounded in the April 22 raid that freed
71 of the 72 remaining captives. The raid killed one
hostage, two soldiers and all 14 rebels at his
mansion. At the time, Peruvian and Japanese press
glowed with reports of Aoki returning in a
wheelchair to his embassy office to get back to
work.
But a barrage of criticism followed, much of it over
security at the mansion.
Aoki told the committee Tuesday that he had failed
to post armed guards for the party because he
never imagined it would be the target of an attack. If
he had used armed guards, he said, that might only
have led to bloody fighting with the rebels.
"I thought they were enough," Aoki said of his
security measures. "It was a mistake."
His personal conduct has also been questioned,
some of it over issues as seemingly minor as his
chain-smoking during a news conference
immediately after his release.
Over the past week, popular weekly magazines
have quoted unidentified former hostages as saying
Aoki was a coward who treated them with a
mixture of rudeness and arrogance.
According to an unconfirmed report in one weekly,
the Shukan Bunshun, Aoki drank copiously
throughout the crisis, prompting the Japanese
hostages to secretly write a letter to the government
requesting he be replaced.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to confirm
or deny whether such a request was made, saying
only that the facts remain "unclear".
Aoki said that as host of the reception he bore
responsibility for the hostages' suffering and
admitted he may have acted inappropriately with
them during the crisis.
"I was very excited," he said. "I apologize."
Ikeda, the foreign minister, said he intends to let
Aoki step down before results of the government
investigation into the crisis are released. The
investigation is expected to end next month.
In Japan, government and corporate officials are
often expected to express contrition by resigning to
take responsibility for failures, lapses in judgment or
insensitive remarks.
There has been no negative reaction to Aoki in
Peru. There, two high-ranking police officials also
taken hostage have been fired and are being
prosecuted for alleged negligence.
Peruvian Miners Who Dug Rescue Tunnels Missing
Associated Press, 05/05/97
LIMA, Peru (AP) - Twenty-four miners who dug
tunnels for Peruvian commandos under the
Japanese ambassador's mansion have yet to return
home - two weeks after the end of the hostage
crisis - their union said Monday.
The union sent a letter to the government-owned
Centromin mining company, which hired the miners
and engineers, asking the firm to say where the men
are and to let them return to their families, local
radio reported.
Media reports that two of the miners were either
killed while building the tunnels and the
secretive nature of the operation has led family
members to fear for their safety, Radioprogramas
reported.
Centromin would not comment on the miners'
whereabouts.
The miners spent several weeks building a network
of tunnels under the diplomatic compound where
leftist rebels were holding 72 hostages. The military
used the tunnels - complete with electricity,
ventilation and a telecommunications system - to
stage a rescue on April 22.
One hostage and two soldiers died in the raid. The
14 Tupac Amaru rebels who seized the hostages
during a Dec. 17 party also were killed.
The union said the company had started recruiting
miners for the job on Jan. 5, offering to pay them
$2,000 each. So far the miners' families each have
only received $1,000, it said.
