Chance Of Talks Raises Hope For End To Standoff Police Release Reporter, Interpreter Detained For Talking To Peruvian Rebels

The prospect of a face-to-face meeting this weekend between government negotiators and rebels holding 74 hostages boosted hopes that the four-week standoff at the Japanese ambassador’s residence can be resolved peacefully.

Talks to end the crisis stalled after the Tupac Amaru rebels spoke to reporters on Dec. 31, violating an agreement with the government.

Peruvian negotiator Domingo Palermo broke the silence Friday, speaking with rebel leader Nestor Cerpa over a two-way radio. They agreed that Palermo and another key intermediary, Roman Catholic Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani, would visit the residence.

Cipriani spent more than two hours inside the residence Saturday, accompanied by a Red Cross worker. He left without speaking to reporters but waved and flashed a smile, fueling speculation that he and Palermo might return today.

Peruvian police Saturday evening released a Japanese reporter and his Peruvian interpreter who’ve been in custody since they sneaked inside the compound for two hours Tuesday to interview the rebels.

TV Asahi reporter Tsuyoshi Hitomi and his Peruvian interpreter Victor Borja were detained after they left the residence.

Hitomi was to leave Peru Saturday night and would not make any comment, TV Asahi correspondent Junichi Kitasei said. He confirmed that Borja was also released, but he did not provide details.

Another TV Asahi representative said the videotape the two recorded inside the compound was turned over to Japanese embassy officials in Lima and had not yet been returned to the company. A spokesman at the Japanese embassy said the tape would be sent TV Asahi headquarters in Tokyo.

Palermo’s conversation with Cerpa Friday ended with a bit of banter.

“OK, Nestor, sir, then probably we’ll meet for a while this weekend. How does that sound?” Palermo asked the rebel leader.

“No problem,” Cerpa replied. “We aren’t going anywhere.” With that, both men laughed. A recording of their conversation was broadcast on local TV and radio.

Japan welcomed the resumption of talks. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto said Saturday that his government “hopes progress toward a way out of the crisis comes about through direct contact” with the rebels.

The leftist guerrillas stormed the ambassador’s residence on Dec. 17, capturing more than 500 people attending a cocktail party. The rebels released most captives but are holding onto the rest to demand freedom for about 300 comrades in Peruvian jails.

Japan’s ambassador, Morihisa Aoki, and several Japanese executives are among the remaining hostages.

President Alberto Fujimori has ruled out any prisoner exchange. But he said in an interview with The Associated Press late Friday that he was confident he could reach a deal with Cerpa - even if it takes weeks of tough bargaining.

“We expect to continue these conversations, which will probably take some time and consume a lot of patience,” Fujimori said.

He added that Cerpa appeared to be a reasonable negotiator, and seemed willing to make concessions.

“I have never met him, but he looks like a negotiator with the style of union leaders - but … using force, violence,” Fujimori said.

Cerpa was a union leader in the late 1970s and took part in the violent seizure of a factory in 1978 that left four people dead. He spent 10 months in jail for it, and later joined the Tupac Amaru.

Fujimori said Dec. 31 in a written reply to questions from The Associated Press that the rebels might be allowed to leave Peru. Cerpa rejected the option during an impromptu news conference the same day.

Fujimori and his aides have since said the option remains open, but refuse to identify which countries they have been in contact with. “I cannot make statements about these official contacts,” he said in Friday’s AP interview.

Fujimori said the government broke off negotiations after the rebels allowed journalists to enter the residence without police approval on Dec. 31.

The impromptu news conference had violated an agreement to have the rebels speak with reporters in exchange for the release of a large number of hostages, he said.