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Fujimori to run in Japan election Fujimori 'to run' in Japan poll
(2 days later)
Disgraced Peruvian ex-President Alberto Fujimori says he will stand in next month's Japanese Senate election under the banner of an opposition party. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori says he will stand in next month's Senate elections in Japan.
He reached his decision after "in-depth analysis and reflection", he said. Mr Fujimori says he will run for the opposition People's New Party, a small conservative group formed in 2005.
The 68-year-old, who has dual Peruvian and Japanese citizenship, sought asylum in Japan after his government collapsed amid a scandal seven years ago. The 68-year-old, who has Peruvian and Japanese citizenship, sought asylum in Japan after his government collapsed amid a scandal seven years ago.
Mr Fujimori was detained in Chile in 2005 and is facing extradition to Peru on human rights and corruption charges. He is currently under house arrest in Chile, facing extradition to Peru on human rights and corruption charges.
Death squads Speaking via telephone at a PNP press conference in Tokyo, Mr Fujimori said he was standing "to work on Asian diplomacy, North Korean issues and to ensure Japan's safety", the French news agency AFP said.
Last week members of the People's New Party, a small Japanese conservative grouping, visited Mr Fujimori at his home in Santiago, Chile, to make their offer. Many analysts, however, will see the decision as a cynical ploy to gain immunity from prosecution and avoid extradition to Peru, where he is wanted for crimes allegedly committed while he was president, says the BBC's Daniel Schweimler.
Some Peruvian officials have dismissed his decision to run for office as a manoeuvre to try to avoid extradition. Embassy siege
Carlos Raffo, a spokesman from Mr Fujimori's Alliance for the Future party, said the ex-leader would end the speculation on Thursday, when he would "reveal to all Peru the reason and motivations for his decision". Mr Fujimori, the son of Japanese emigres to Peru, was president of Peru from 1990-2000.
Chilean legal experts say the offer of candidacy will not affect the final deportation ruling. He was praised for reviving the country's collapsing economy and curbing political violence. But critics accuse him of crushing Peru's democratic institutions and committing human rights abuses.
The charges against Mr Fujimori stem from his 1990-2000 presidency, and include the death squad killings of 25 people. In 2000 he became engulfed in a bribery scandal and fled to Japan, where he had been praised for his handling of the 1996-97 Japanese embassy hostage crisis.
They also cover alleged illegal phone tapping, the siphoning of state funds to the intelligence service, and bribery of politicians. Japan repeatedly refused efforts by the Peruvian government to extradite him on charges that included directing death squads, illegal phone tapping and corruption - charges Mr Fujimori denies.
Mr Fujimori has denied any wrongdoing. But in November 2005 he returned to Chile, hoping to launch a new bid for the Peruvian presidency in 2006 elections, only to be arrested on request of the Peruvian authorities.
A Chilean court is considering a Peruvian request for his extradition and Chilean legal experts say Mr Fujimori's possible candidacy will not affect the final deportation ruling.
PNP head Shizuka Kamei said that Mr Fujimori's candidacy would "add vigour to today's Japanese society, which lacks courage, confidence and benevolence".
Government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki, meanwhile, described it as "strictly the issue within the framework of political parties".
But a Peruvian congressman accused Mr Fujimori of trying to avoid justice.
"The judicial process must continue," said Juan Carlos Eguren of the National Unity party, "and we think that the extradition process will end with a ruling forcing Fujimori to return to Peru."
The Japanese Senate elections will take place on 29 July.