Fujimori loses bid for Japan parliament seat

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori lost his long-distance bid to win a seat in Japan's parliament, Japanese media said on Monday.

Fujimori, an ethnic Japanese, carried out his campaign for the seat in Japan's upper house from house arrest in Chile. Peru has been fighting to bring him to trial on charges of human rights abuses and corruption.

The 69-year-old Fujimori, who has dual citizenship in Peru and Japan, was backed by the tiny opposition People's New Party in his campaign, which some Japanese human rights activists condemned as a tactic to avoid trial.

"I could not campaign and the result was unfortunate," Kyodo news agency quoted Fujimori as saying in Chile.

"Even though I was not elected, my feelings towards Japan have not changed. It was a good experience."

Media reports said Fujimori's party, made up mostly of ruling party rebels, had won two seats but that he was not elected.

Fujimori had offered to use skills gained during 10 years as Peruvian president to help Japan solve its problems.

"Japan is facing a lot of problems at the moment," he said in a campaign video recorded in Chile.

"North Korea, Asian diplomacy, the gap between rich and poor. As a specialist on terrorism and a Peruvian president, I will put my experience to good use and solve these problems without fail."

On July 11, the day before Fujimori started his campaign, a Chilean judge ruled he should not be extradited to Peru because Peruvian prosecutors had failed to demonstrate that he was involved in human rights abuses, including two massacres during Peru's battles with Maoists in the 1990s.

Fujimori's party had urged the Japanese government to intercede with Chile so he could campaign in Japan, but Foreign Minister Taro Aso turned down their request.

Fujimori fled to Japan in 2000 after his government collapsed due to a corruption scandal. He stayed for five years but was arrested when he unexpectedly flew to Chile.

Many Japanese admire him for his handling of a four-month siege at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Peru in 1996-1997. His campaign poster showed him raising his hands in triumph when the siege came to an end.