The leader of a Peruvian paramilitary nationalist group that seized a police station, took 10 officers hostage and allegedly killed four more surrendered late on Monday as security forces launched an offensive against his followers, an Interior Ministry official said.
Former army major Antauro Humala was in custody after turning himself in to national police chief Felix Murazzo in the town’s municipal building, a spokesperson for Interior Minister Javier Reategui said.
”He came with the idea of surrendering himself but a group of his followers weren’t in agreement,” said the spokesperson, on condition of anonymity.
She said security forces were ”in the midst of an operation” to recapture the police post in an offensive that began at about 10pm local time.
An AP reporter who had seen Humala enter the municipal building about four hours earlier was ordered by police to go into a nearby hotel with other journalists minutes before the operation began.
The crackle of automatic gunfire could be heard outside.
Three-day stand-off
The three-day stand-off began on Saturday when Humala and a group of about 100 loyal gunmen seized the police station in the remote Andean town, about 443km south-east of the capital, Lima. Five police officers were wounded and 10 more were taken hostage.
A day later, authorities said the group ambushed a police vehicle, killing four officers and wounding several others. A gunman who was gravely wounded in the incident later died, local media reported.
The group, which wants to establish a nationalist indigenous movement modelled on the ancient Incan Empire, had demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Toledo, accusing him of selling out Peru to business interests in Chile, a historic rival. Toledo refused to step down.
Humala’s offer to surrender came as a 6pm curfew imposed on the town went into effect — part of a government-declared, 30-day state of emergency in the region that resulted in the deployment of 1 000 troops.
Earlier in the day, Humala rescinded an earlier offer to lay down his arms, claiming the government had violated the terms of the deal to keep its distance from a perimeter his men set up two blocks around the police post.
That offer largely stemmed from a phone call he had with his brother, former lieutenant colonel Ollanta Humala, who was recently forcibly retired from his post as a military attaché at the Peruvian Embassy in South Korea. Ollanta Humala also heads the group.
”These soldiers, these romantics, these young boys have risked their skins for their nationalist ideals,” Humala said in a radio address on Sunday, during which he announced the first deal.
”They keep mobilising troops when it was agreed with the mediating commission they wouldn’t,” Humala said on Monday.
He said government forces were ”placing sharpshooters on the roofs of buildings” 150m away.
Soldiers deployed
With the initial offer off the table, however, small groups of soldiers and police were deployed throughout the downtown area.
After learning of the government’s warning, Humala went to the town’s main plaza, where thousands of residents had gathered demanding a peaceful settlement. There, he reported that he had reached a deal with authorities for a three-hour truce to re-negotiate the terms of his surrender.
While returning to the police station, his men reportedly started firing their weapons into the air. Humala told Radioprogramas that government snipers opened fire, killing one of his men and wounding another. Humala claimed a young resident of the town was also killed.
An Associated Press reporter saw the rebels lower the body of the dead man from the roof of the police station, where he had been a lookout. The death of the civilian could not be immediately confirmed.
In October 2000, the Humala brothers led 50 followers in a short-lived military uprising, a month before the collapse of former president Alberto Fujimori’s corruption-ridden, 10-year regime. Antauro Humala had been forced to retire from the army three years earlier.
The revolt failed to spark the wider rebellion the brothers had hoped for in barracks across the nation. The Humala brothers and their followers were granted amnesty in December 2000 by Peru’s Congress.
Ollanta Humala was transferred for overseas duty, while Antauro Humala forged a small, but vocal, political movement in his brother’s name.
Toledo, who took office in July 2001 with a popularity rating of nearly 60%, has tried to distance himself from a series of corruption scandals during the past year involving relatives and Cabinet ministers. His approval rating has sunk to about 9%. — Sapa-AP