Ex-spy chief: Fujimori innocent in death squad killings

LIMA, Peru (CNN) -- The trial of former President Alberto Fujimori opened here Monday with his former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, declaring his boss innocent of the charges he faces.

"I came here to clarify that Mr. Fujimori has no responsibility with the actions cited in this process," Montesinos told court magistrates.

The trial, held in Ate Vitarte on the outskirts of Lima, marks the first time the two men have been in the same room since they both fled the country eight years ago.

Fujimori, 69, faces charges that range from bribery and corruption to murder and human rights abuses that carry a potential penalty of 30 years in prison. He has denied the charges.

Montesinos, 63, served as the chief of Peru's National Intelligence Unit during Fujimori's reign from 1990 to 2000.

Fujimori has been on trial since December on charges of homicide, kidnapping and aggravated assault and ordering the killings of 25 people in two death squad cases in 1991 and 1992.

He had been in self-imposed exile in Japan for five years before traveling to Chile, where he was arrested in November 2005. He faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

During Monday's hearing, Montesinos denied Fujimori was involved in any of the alleged incidents, and said the Fujimori government was entrenched in the war against the Shining Path and other terrorist groups, a cause backed by the U.S. government.

He said Monday he should not be required to answer questions about what he considers to be the country's war against terrorism, and compared his role with the CIA in the United States.

"Why is it that in the world's most powerful nation, the United States, when their intelligence officials are required to testify in Congress, they are not required to discuss issues of national security? " Montesinos asked.

Montesinos is serving a 15-year prison term on corruption charges at the top-security naval prison in the port of Callao. He was sentenced in September 2006 to a 20-year prison term for involvement in an illegal arms deal aimed at providing 10,000 assault weapons to Colombian rebels.

Tribunal judges said evidence placed Montesinos at the center of an intricate web of negotiations designed to transport assault rifles from Jordan to members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The government Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimated in 2003 that almost 70,000 people died or "disappeared" during the "dirty war."

Many were victims of atrocities committed by the Shining Path and another insurgent group, and others were victims of human rights abuses by state agents.

According to documents obtained by the National Security Archives through the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. government supported Montesinos as a strong ally in defending U.S. interests in the region during the 1970s, but he fell from favor after it became clear that he was involved in arms smuggling and other crimes.

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