Peru court summons Fujimori

Fujimori could face two years in jail

A Peruvian judge has ordered former President Alberto Fujimori to appear in court on charges of dereliction of duty.

Supreme Court judge Miguel Castaneda said that Mr Fujimori had three chances to obey the order or he would be arrested.

The government does not extradite those who commit no crimes in Japan

Japanese Justice Minister Masahiko Komura

Mr Fujimori is currently in Japan which has ruled out his extradition on the grounds that Tokyo did not extradite its own nationals or others who had not committed any crime on Japanese soil.

Japan and Peru have no extradition treaty.

International dispute

The order by the Peruvian judge threatens to create a diplomatic row between the two countries.

A senior Peruvian congressman warned of serious consequences if Japan did not return the disgraced president to Lima to account for wrongdoing during his 10-year rule.

Komura said Japan would not hand over Fujimori

In a BBC interview, congressman David Waismanhe said that Japan's refusal to hand over Mr Fujimori could lead to an international dispute.

Mr Fujimori was formally charged earlier this week with non-performance and dereliction of duty, after fleeing to Tokyo last November to escape a corruption scandal.

Lima is said to be planning to send a special envoy to Japan to bring Mr Fujimori back to Peru.

In December, the Japanese government announced that Mr Fujimori - who enjoys dual Japanese and Peruvian citizenship - would be allowed to stay indefinitely in his ancestral homeland.

Corruption allegations

Mr Fujimori arrived in Tokyo on a diplomatic visa and faxed his resignation from the presidency from Tokyo in November, following mounting accusations of government corruption involving his intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.

Parliamentarians rejected the resignation and voted him out instead, declaring him morally unfit to remain in office.

Mr Fujimori denied any illicit involvement with the former intelligence chief during his 10 years in power.

He has refused to return to Peru to testify before a congressional commission.

Mr Montesinos faces charges which include corruption, embezzlement, illegal arms and drugs deals, money laundering and directing death squads.