Peru leader shocks with TV tirade

Mr Toledo's government has been beset by corruption scandals

Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is facing a backlash after TV audiences heard him harangue and insult a presenter in a live telephone call.

Opposition politicians and the press voiced shock at the outburst, which was prompted by a critical broadcast.

Mr Toledo accused presenter Carlos Espa of cowardice and "gutter" journalism for airing footage apparently proving allegations of electoral malpractice.

Recent opinion polls suggest Mr Toledo is South America's least-liked leader.

The former economist was elected in 2001 on the promise that he would curb the corrupt excesses associated with ex-President Alberto Fujimori.

But his popularity has been battered by investigations into the financial dealings of his cabinet members and family.

Hanging up

Sunday's evening's Cuarto Poder, or Fourth Estate, programme on the America Television channel broadcast a videotape of Mr Toledo in the late 1990s, apparently thanking campaign workers who had "transcribed, entered and rechecked" signatures.

The programme alleged this proved accusations that Mr Toledo had illegally amassed the signatures needed to have his political party registered for the elections.

After the footage was aired, Mr Toledo telephoned the presenter and attacked him for not having offered him a chance to deny the allegations.

He said the video showed nothing more than him thanking party workers for having checked the lists of signatures against the electoral rolls.

"A half-truth is worse than a lie. That's enough of staining people's honour. I have nothing more to say," Mr Toledo said.

"You are a coward," he told the presenter, before hanging up.

Fujimori scandal

The president and his aides have defended his on-air attack as a legitimate reaction to inflammatory and incorrect journalism.

But Lima newspapers and opposition politicians have accused him of unstatesmanlike behaviour.

Magistrates are currently investigating the signature lists used to register Mr Toledo's Peru Possible party.

Outcry over the forgery of about one million signatures supporting President Fujimori's re-election bid helped force him from office in 2001.