Peru's Fujimori innocent, says convicted spy chief

By Maria Luisa Palomino

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori should not be held responsible for human rights crimes committed during his time in office, the man who ran his feared counterinsurgency network said on Monday.

Vladimiro Montesinos, who is serving a 20-year sentence for arms trafficking and corruption, took the witness stand and vigorously defended Fujimori from charges that he ordered a death squad to kill 25 suspected leftists in the 1990s, when Peru was battling the Maoist group known as the Shining Path.

"Fujimori bears no responsibility for what happened," said a defiant Montesinos, who frequently shouted and pointed at prosecutors and Supreme Court judges.

Montesinos and Fujimori, who saw each other for the first time in eight years on Monday, did not speak but appeared to exchange knowing glances of mutual trust.

Fujimori, 69, faces up to 30 years in prison. Though his political career has ended, analysts say he his positioning his daughter, Keiko, a prominent member of Congress, to run for the presidency in 2011.

If elected, she might be able to assure better treatment or a shorter prison term for Montesinos, who was convicted in 2001. She has promised to pardon her father if she wins the presidency.

Fujimori, who has frequently nodded off during hours of testimony since his trial started seven months ago, was energetic and engaged as he listened to Montesinos praise him for combating insurgents.

When Fujimori's government collapsed after 10 years in power during a bribery scandal in 2000, both men fled the country.

Montesinos feared for his life, and Fujimori, fearing more dirt would surface, sent an aide to steal incriminating documents from Montesinos' house.

While in power, Fujimori defeated the guerrillas and brought order to a chaotic economy. But critics said he violated human rights to end a 20-year war in which nearly 70,000 people died or disappeared.

Families of victims killed by the government's death squad said they were distraught by the behavior of Montesinos, who frequently disobeyed judges on Monday and talked at length about how he and Fujimori saved the country from armed leftists.

"The arrogance of Montesinos is shocking," said Gisela Ortiz, whose brother was killed in a 1992 massacre at the La Cantuta university.

(Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Dana Ford and David Wiessler)