HOSTAGE HANDLING APRIL 24, 1997 TRANSCRIPT

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Elizabeth Farnsworth brings an update on the Peru hostage rescue story.

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JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight an update on the Peru hostage rescue story and to Elizabeth Farnsworth.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: More details about the rescue operation at the Japanese ambassador's residence are coming out in accounts from President Fujimori, military leaders, and hostages.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Planning for the military assault began shortly after the hostages were taken in December. As shown here on videotape released by the Peruvian government, troops practiced as a mock ambassador's residence in a remote location outside Lima. Then in January miners began digging several ventilated tunnels, each about four feet in diameter, to three points within the compound. Inside the house the rebels would practice defending against an attack, throwing mock grenades at the hostages and vowing to kill them if a rescue was attempted.

CARLOS BLANCO, Peruvian Congressman: (speaking through interpreter) They would stage an exercise, a simulation of a military raid on the residence, telling us how we should react if that happened. In the case of those were in Pavilion C, three MRTA members would come and try to intimidate.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The hostages did get a few minutes' warning of Tuesday's attack, according to President Alberto Fujimori. He held a press conference yesterday using a model of the residence to explain how the mission was accomplished.

PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI, Peru: (speaking through interpreter) We gave them some minutes to prepare themselves for the surprise operation. We gave them only minutes. They knew of the operations. We knew of some of the participants. We had some means of communication that I cannot divulge because they belong to the intelligence services which work very well here in Peru, so I will not explain what they are.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The President said he gave the order for the attack after the rebel leader threatened to limit medical visits to the hostages. Here's what apparently happened on Tuesday afternoon according to the President and military leaders. An explosion in the main tunnel under the reception hall caught nine of the fourteen rebels in a game of indoor soccer. Four were killed by that explosion. At the same time troops poured into the house. Tupac Amaru leader Nestor Cerpa and a handful of rebels survived the first explosion.

PRESIDENT ALBERTO FUJIMORI: (speaking through interpreter) Five or six began to go up the stairs. Cerpa is armed. He was able to recover his weapon. They didn't realize there was a group of guerrillas there and another group coming up behind them. Six of them were annihilated, everyone of them armed. Some had grenades and others submachine guns.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The explosions which were heard outside the building and broadcast live around the world were, according to hostages, nothing compared to the fireworks inside. The hostages told of loud crossfire, bullets whizzing over their heads, and dense smoke. Yesterday, as some bodies were removed from the residence, explosive experts were combing the building and the grounds for mines and bombs. Early this morning President Fujimori visited the site. He was photographed next to the body of the rebel leader Cerpa, still lying on the stairs where he was shot. And the president saw the escape route on the second floor where the hostages fled to freedom. In Lima today, memorial services were held for the one hostage and the two soldiers who died in the attack.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: For more on this we turn to Jonathan Miller, who's been covering the story for us from Lima. Hi, Jonathan. What are the hostages saying there about how they viewed their captors?

JONATHAN MILLER, Journalist: We are learning that they felt very threatened by their captors. If--you might remember that early on in this crisis when the first hostages were released, they said that they had bonded in some way with the captors, but clearly as the crisis dragged on, the people who were stuck inside there lost I think a lot of the good feeling that they might have had early on in this, and by the end not a lot of expressions of regret at the loss of life among the captors, and not a lot of discussion of really any kind of personal bond that--that developed between them.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: But what about the minister of agriculture? There seemed to be some bond that developed between him and one of the rebels who then didn't shoot him, even when he could have, is that right?

JONATHAN MILLER: A very fascinating and moving story. Right during the raid the rebels were completely surprised and running around, trying to figure out what to do. One young rebel burst into the room where the minister of agriculture was, was lying on the floor. The minister looked up at him; the rebel pointed the gun at him; and decided not to shoot. The minister of agriculture said that he was certain that he would die at that point. The rebel left the room and was quickly killed by the military commandos.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Have you heard any details about how the rebels were killed? The president had said they were all killed in fighting. Any other reports there?

JONATHAN MILLER: Well, we know that several of the rebels were killed when the explosions went off right at the beginning and then many of them were unarmed at the time of the precise moment of the raid, and they ran to get their weapons. And they were killed in various places in the house. Some were certainly fighting back and shooting back. The rebel who decided not to shoot--it's not certain how many made that same decision--but certainly some were, in fact, using their weapons against--not maybe against the hostages--that will be interesting to find out as the days go on--but certainly against the military, who were coming in with a rescue attempt.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Jonathan, have you heard anything there about how people inside might have communicated with people outside? The President indicated that the hostages did have some kind of a device for communications, but he wouldn't say what it was.

JONATHAN MILLER: That's right. He didn't want to explain this very useful tool in case it would be of use to the intelligence services later on in some future action. There has been some speculation about what it might have been, whether it's a radio transmitter, radio receiver. It would have to be something that would allow for communications in both directions because, as we understand, communication was happening between the hostages, or at least one hostage, maybe more, probably military people, and the outside world. They were being kept abreast of what was happening outside all along, not for the duration of the crisis, but at least for the last couple or few weeks. Now the--the device, itself, it's not certain how it came in or what it was. There's been some speculation it might have come in hidden in a book or hidden in a guitar. It may have been smuggled in by a Peruvian doctor. There were teams of Peruvian medical personnel who came in when the Ministry of Health, the Peruvian government, said they weren't satisfied with the medical care that the Red Cross was providing. And it's possible that that was a pretext to get some government people into the house and to--to begin this operation.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: What's the popular reaction in Peru to what has happened and to the raid?

JONATHAN MILLER: Well, quite fascinating, I think that overall you can characterize the reaction here as relief. This is something that by now, after more than four months, was maybe not the central concern of most people, but it was a nagging thing, something that just wouldn't go away. And now that it's over with, I think people feel like this nagging pain has gone, and they're relieved. But there was a very interesting poll just published this morning which--which noted that the popularity or the approval rating of the--of President Fujimori had skyrocketed. It had gone up by 30 points over the course of the one day; however, when people were asked how do you feel, what's your emotional response to this--this rescue, the answers varied according to social plans. The wealthier respondents said that they were happy. And middle class respondents said that they were relieved, and many of the lower economic lower classes said that they were saddened by what had happened.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Any indications as to whether the President will take this as a message that his hard-line policies work, or if he'll reach out a little more now to the disaffected and to the poor?

JONATHAN MILLER: Well, this is a very good question. President Fujimori clearly feels buoyed by this, and he feels vindicated also for trusting his military. His military and his intelligence service to whom he gave credit for the success of the raid have been his staunchest supporters and his closest allies ever since he took office. And I think that there's quite a bit of concern among people somewhat critical of Fujimori that that connection will only strengthen and perhaps to the detriment of the human rights situation in the country. On the other hand, though, during the--during the unfolding of this crisis, the President made some indications that he was going to perhaps look at judicial and prison reforms, things that I think almost everyone agrees are long overdue, and so we'll see if he proceeds with those sorts of things.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Well, Jonathan, thanks very much.

JONATHAN MILLER: Thank you.

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