LEFT-WING rebels last night released six of the 490 hostages they were holding in the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima. They claim they will hold the hostages until the government frees their jailed comrades.
The six included a Peruvian diplomat, Jose Luis de Cossio, a former envoy to the Vatican, and the ambassadors of Germany, Canada and Greece, to establish a negotiating "bridge".
Peruvian anti-terrorist forces surrounded the compound where about 20 heavily-armed members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) had set off an explosion. The rebels were ensconced in the embassy since late Tuesday after slipping into a reception posing as waiters and florists.
An explosion also occurred inside the residence yesterday and sporadic gunfire was heard but there were no reports of hostage casualties, officials said.
Among the captives were ambassadors from Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Panama, Spain, South Korea, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed no Irish diplomats were involved.
In an embarrassing turn of events, Peru's Foreign Minister, Mr Francisco Tudela, its anti-terrorist police chief, Gen Maximo Rivera, and the State Security Director, Mr Guillermo Bobbio, also were being held.
The rebels are also seeking the release of a US national, Lori Berenson, who was arrested last year with an MRTA commando, Peruvian intelligence sources said. She is serving a life sentence.
A statement from the MRTA suggested the rebels wanted to avoid a violent resolution to the stand-off, and that they were demanding they be allowed to travel freely to Peru's central jungle with their freed leaders.
In Washington, President Clinton offered to help President Alberto Fujimori and the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto, in solving the crisis, the White House announced.
A US embassy official, Mr Jim Wagner, was among the hostages, according to a letter sent to authorities by some diplomats being held hostage.
One of the rebels inside the residence, speaking in a radio interview yesterday, threatened to start executing the hostages unless the government met their demand. "We have a mission, we want the liberation of all our comrades, and if the government doesn't give in, we will begin to execute the prisoners," he said.
Around midday, a telephone caller identifying himself as one of the rebels told local radio that Mr Tudela would be killed in 20 minutes if the government did not respond to its demands.
Government sources said Mr Fujimori had been the original target of the hostage-taking at the residence of the Japanese ambassador, Mr Morihisa Aoki, where a reception was being held in honour of Japan's Emperor Akihito's birthday next Monday. Mr Fujimori had been expected to attend but was late returning from a domestic trip.
The hostage-taking brought international condemnation from the United Nations, the Organisation of American States, Canada, the US and the EU.
After lobbing tear gas into the residence and briefly exchanging gunfire with the rebels shortly after they took the embassy, anti terrorist forces surrounded the buildings as negotiations began early yesterday. The hostage-taking occurred at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The rebels freed about 80 women and elderly guests present at the reception.
Among the released hostages was Mr Fujimori's mother, Ms Matsue Inomoto, who was escorted by police to a waiting car.