In Spy Hunt, Peru Wants U.S. to Make a Better Effort

LIMA, Peru, Feb. 16 -- The Peruvian government called on the Bush
administration today to step up its efforts to apprehend Vladimiro
Montesinos, the fugitive former Peruvian spy chief, who has long ties to
the Central Intelligence Agency.

Mr. Montesinos fled the country four months ago to escape drug and
gun-running charges, and his whereabouts are unknown.

"There are many fugitives in the world today but not many with connections
to a particular agency of the United States government," Justice Minister
Diego Garcia Sayan said in an interview today.

"You can deduce that there is a special moral obligation in this case to
offer Peruvian authorities an extraordinary effort that responds to that
responsibility."

Mr. Montesinos was the most powerful official in the government of
President Alberto K. Fujimori, which collapsed late last year in a series
of scandals. The former spy chief left thousands of videotapes behind,
which prosecutors say show his involvement in bribing election officials,
judges, politicians and journalists in an effort to keep Mr. Fujimori in power.

Prosecution documents allege that Mr. Montesinos built an organized- crime
racket in alliance with senior military officers, first by accepting
protection money from international narcotics traffickers and later by
siphoning off funds from military arms purchases. Prosecutors also assert
that $54 million of $70 million found in Swiss bank accounts linked to Mr.
Montesinos came from arms trafficking.

Mr. Montesinos's ties to the Central Intelligence Agency date back to the
1970's, when he was a middle-ranking officer in a leftist military
government friendly to Cuba. He was caught stealing documents pertaining to
arms purchases from the Soviet Union, and was later cashiered and briefly
imprisoned.

During most of the 1990's, Mr. Montesinos led government anti-drug efforts
and personally took charge of a Peruvian National Intelligence Service unit
set up by the C.I.A. to combat drug trafficking. Former United States
officials say Mr. Montesinos was the only official in the Fujimori
government capable of coordinating law enforcement and military agencies at
a time when Peru was the leading producer of coca for cocaine trafficking.

Mr. Montesinos was last reportedly seen in December in Venezuela while
seeking plastic surgery. The Venezuela government denies that he is still
there.

In recent weeks, several Peruvian lawmakers have charged that the C.I.A.
continues to protect Mr. Montesinos -- which the American ambassador, John
Hamilton, has repeatedly denied. "The U.S. government is cooperating fully
in the Montesinos investigation, both in the search and the investigation
of specific corruption charges," Mr. Hamilton said today.

But Mr. Garcia Sayan said today: "We have no explicit indication of
specific actions or a special strategy that the United States is mounting
internationally to find Vladimiro Montesinos."

He said Interpol, an international police agency that has a strong American
presence, was leading the international effort to find Mr. Montesinos.

Mr. Garcia Sayan strongly distanced himself from the allegations that the
C.I.A. was protecting Mr. Montesinos, calling them unproven and
"irresponsible."

But he said the United States should do more in the search "that
corresponds to the special nature of the circumstances."

He added that Peruvian evidence suggesting Mr. Montesinos's involvement in
gun-running to leftist guerrillas in Colombia meant that "this also is a
matter of national interest for the United States."

Mr. Garcia Sayan said he would like Washington to share with Peruvian
officials declassified intelligence documents that might shed light on Mr.
Montesinos's criminal activities.

He said that Economy Minister Javier Silva Ruete, meeting with State
Department officials in Washington last week, had requested more help in
tracking down Mr. Montesinos, and that Carlos Alzamora, the Peruvian
ambassador to Washington, was also pressing the issue.