Peru Officials Resign Over Hostage Taking

Peru’s interior minister and national police chief resigned suddenly Saturday, citing security lapses that allowed leftist rebels to seize hostages at the Japanese ambassador’s residence.

Interior Minister Juan Briones, an army general, said he was assuming responsibility for the hostage crisis, now stretching into its fifth month.

He said that he and the police commander, Lt. Gen. Antonio Ketin Vidal, were brave enough to take office at a time when the country was bleeding from terrorist attacks “and we achieved its pacification.”

Now, he said, “it is also with this same valor and nobility that we recognize there was deficiency in the security that led to the taking of the Japanese embassy (residence).”