PERU LEADER SUPPORTS ARMY NO. 2 HELD IN DRUG PROBE

LIMA, -P resident Alberto Fujimori
said on Monday he believed his army's second-in-command, arrested
earlier this month and the highest-ranking soldier ever held during a
Peru narcotics probe, is innocent.

Gen. Tomas Marky was detained following accusations by an army
lieutenant in prison on drug-trafficking charges that Marky had in
1995 confiscated smugglers' suitcases believed to hold $1 million and
never reported it to authorities.

"I sincerely hope he is found innocent but it is a matter for the
courts. I believe he is a soldier who has done his job properly,"
Fujimori told reporters at Government Palace in his first public
comments about the arrest.

Peru, which is the world's largest supplier of coca leaf, the raw
material for cocaine, uses the military as its main weapon against
smugglers and has been praised by the United States as a model
drug-fighting nation.

Marky has denied the allegations, first made three years ago by Lt.
Omar Zegarra while he was under the general's command in a dangerous
Andean region rife with guerrillas and traffickers.

"When he (Marky) was head of the military in (the Andean zone of)
Ayacucho, he did extraordinary work in the fight against terrorism and
drug-trafficking," Fujimori said.

Previous drugs-related arrests involving the military, including a
1996 case when cocaine was found aboard a presidential plane, have
been of middle-ranking or junior officers.

These cases have damaged the popularity of Fujimori, who -- without a
traditional party base to underpin his power -- relies heavily on
support from the military, according to pollsters and political analysts.

Fujimori's praise for Marky came after the president met Lima's
Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani who defended the general at the weekend,
saying the public could "put their faith in a man of (Marky's)
unflinching integrity." The churchman knew Marky while he was
archbishop of Ayacucho.

Since 1995 Marky has climbed swiftly through the army ranks, becoming
head of the key region around the second city of Arequipa before his
January appointment as the army's second-in-command.

Why Marky has been detained now, three years after the initial
accusations, is unclear. The court handling the case has declined to
comment on the matter and army spokesmen have been unavailable for
days despite repeated calls requesting information.

Zegarra claims Marky supervised an army drugs bust and captured a
small plane piloted by Colombians, who handed over suitcases that one
trafficker said contained $1 million.

The army lieutenant first made his accusations against Marky as a
witness in the 1995 trial of the Colombians.

Local media have reported them periodically since then after Zegarra
stuck to his story during a court case against him prompted by
allegations made by Marky.

The case against Zegarra ended with the lieutenant being sentenced
last December to eight years in jail for drug-trafficking.