Rumours of Fujimori's asylum request denied

The Malaysian government has denied rumours that Peruvian president, Alberto Fujimori, has applied for political asylum.

The President also rejected the claim in a telephone conversation , late on Wednesday night, with leaders of the ruling Peru 2000 alliance.

Mr Fujimori is currently in Brunei for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders and was due to travel on to Japan before attending the Ibero-American summit in Panama at the weekend.

Reports say he could now be on his way back to Peru to deal with the mounting political crisis.

Mr Fujimori's ability to govern has been increasingly questioned since his intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, was involved in a bribery scandal. In response, the president called early elections and offered to remain in office until a successor is sworn in next July.

On Wednesdsay, riot police in Lima clashed, with construction workers demonstrating outside the Government Palace, calling for the president's resignation.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service