TOKYO Peru's disgraced ex-president, Alberto Fujimori, has contacted Japan's Foreign Ministry since going to ground in the land of his forefathers, but his location is a secret, a Japanese official said on Friday.
Just hours before he was sacked by Peru's Congress, Fujimori slipped out of the posh Tokyo hotel where he had been holed up for five days to take refuge in Japan at the house of a friend.
"There seems to have been contact," chief government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda told a regular news conference when asked about Fujimori.
"But as to his whereabouts, because of various issues, including security concerns, Japan cannot disclose details," he said.
A day earlier, Japan raced to be among the first nations to congratulate Peru's new interim president, moving to avert a damaging diplomatic row while it plays host to the deposed president who governed the South American country for a decade.
Fujimori this week submitted his resignation to Peru's Congress in a fax from his Tokyo hotel but was instead declared "morally unfit" by Peru's Congress and sacked amid allegations of corruption.
Japan has been waiting nervously to see whether and how Fujimori would request to stay in the country.
"There has been no such request," Fukuda said.
Fujimori emerged from his hotel after four days of seclusion on Tuesday to give a news conference in which he apologized to his people and said he would seek official permission to stay in Japan for the time being.
This is almost a formality.
An official in a small southwestern Japanese town said Fujimori is eligible to stay because his name is listed in an official family registry kept by the town. This means he has Japanese nationality, the official added.
Fujimori's parents emigrated from Japan to Peru in the early 1930s and he still has family in Japan.
His brother-in-law, Victor Aritomi Shindo, was Peru's ambassador to Tokyo until he resigned on Wednesday, and his son, Hiro Fujimori, also lives in Japan.
Fujimori holds a diplomatic passport and a visa that allows him to stay in the country until May 3, 2001, officials said.
Fujimori Go Home Japanese media has taken a stand on the issue, with a flurry of editorials demanding Fujimori return to Peru and explain to his people why he fled the country.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun financial daily said it was not fitting for him to abandon the democratic process in Peru by fleeing to a third country.
The difficulty of Japan's position is compounded by the fact that Tokyo feels beholden to Fujimori for rescuing diplomats and other hostages held by leftist guerillas at the Japanese ambassador's home in Lima in a 1997 commando raid.
A Japanese government source said Tokyo was worried about a potential diplomatic row if Peru's new government decided to ask Japan to hand Fujimori over to face possible court trials.
Many Peruvians believe Fujimori is staying in Japan to avoid being targeted in corruption probes involving his former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, his right-hand man for 10 years.
Montesinos one of the most powerful people in Peru is being investigated for allegedly amassing over $58 million from money laundering.
No formal charges have been lodged against Fujimori.
(Reuter)