Venezuela probing Montesinos sightings

Venezuela has acknowledged, for the first time, that the fugitive former Peruvian intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, could be in hiding on Venezuelan territory.

The Venezuelan foreign minister, Jose Vicente Rangel, said a serious investigation was under way into reports that Mr Montesinos entered Venezuela using a false name.

A man going by the same name had facial surgery in a Caracas medical clinic last week to change his appearance.

Mr Rangel said that if Mr Montesinos was located, he would be deported immediately to Peru, where he's facing charges ranging from corruption and drug-trafficking to human rights abuses.

He's been on the run since October. He was dismissed after a bribery scandal, which later brought down the former president, Alberto Fujimori.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service