PERU'S COUP RUMORS SUSPECTED AS RUSE

LIMA, Peru -- Like most of the murky details surrounding the conduct of
Peru's leadership in recent days, it may never be known whether President
Alberto Fujimori actually faced ouster by military coup last week, as has
been widely reported.

But what appears certain, diplomats and former senior military officers
say, is that many of Peru's darkest secrets were on the verge of being
revealed after Fujimori's closest former adviser fled the country Sept. 24
in the wake of a scandal.

The military leadership had many reasons to make sure those secrets were
not revealed and was willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their
interests, the former military officers said.

These sources described senior officers immersed in corrupt practices and
abuses of power. There are allegations of personal enrichment on military
contracts, a huge arms-smuggling ring, military-supported drug-trafficking
networks, and other activities that undermined the $1.3 billion war on
drugs in Colombia waged by the United States.

Peru, located on Colombia's porous southern border, is a key player in U.S.
efforts to stem the flow of cocaine and heroin from the region. But at
least three army generals and numerous junior officers have been convicted
and imprisoned in recent years for colluding with drug traffickers.

Diplomats suspect the corruption is far more widespread. "It's the people
who have been involved in the dirty things -- corruption, drug trafficking,
human rights violations," who are behind the talk of a coup, said a Western
diplomat. "They're in a tough spot right now."

The military and civilian court systems have a long history of acquitting
senior military officers allied with the president. In the cases of the
generals convicted of drug-related offenses, at least two were released by
military decree after serving short prison sentences.

According to these sources, the man who had the goods on everyone,
Vladimiro Montesinos, Fujimori's closest adviser and former chief of
national intelligence, fled to Panama on Sept. 24, where he currently is
seeking political asylum.

A week before his departure, Montesinos was shown on videotape handing over
a $15,000 bribe to a newly elected opposition congressman.

The scandal prompted Fujimori to announce plans to quit as soon as the
country can elect a new president. Elections are tentatively set for March
or April.

The government is dismantling the much-feared National Intelligence
Service, or SIN, which Montesinos ran. The SIN, created in 1990, cooperated
with the military high command and used military personnel to spy on
civilians and politicians.

Montesinos used his position within the SIN to obtain promotions for loyal
generals, including his brother-in-law, while arranging for the ouster of
those who were uncooperative, according to former intelligence and military
officials.

Bribery and other forms of corruption were key to ensuring loyalty, and
Montesinos was meticulous in videotaping military and civilian officials
engaged in compromising activities, the sources said.

The Montesinos scandal has caused Peru to sink into its most severe
political crisis in decades. The crisis reached fever pitch last week when
a congressman said he had been asked by the military command to participate
in a coup plot.

The military command publicly voiced its support for Fujimori shortly after
the Montesinos scandal erupted. The army's information office last week
insisted the coup allegations were "absolutely false."

Nevertheless, something urgent apparently prompted Fujimori to board a
plane at 2 a.m. on Sept. 28 and fly to Washington with little warning,
forcing Clinton administration officials to arrange hasty meetings with
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger, the White House
national security adviser.

Fujimori returned to Peru on Monday. He obtained cautious support from the
Clinton administration, stressing the importance of completing a democratic
transition and emphasizing the need for Fujimori to make good on his pledge
to leave office after calling new elections.

A former SIN official said the coup rumor appeared to have been a ruse by
the military command and SIN. The official said SIN typically spread coup
rumors and planted news reports of "terrorist threats" when it appeared
that Fujimori's and Montesinos's power faced serious challenge.

"Terrorism never really existed in this country," the former SIN official
said. He said such activity may have been employed by the SIN to ensure
that Montesinos would receive political asylum outside Peru, so he would
never have to face trial in his own country.

"The day that man talks is the day all of the secrets come out," the former
SIN official said of Montesinos.