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The standoff at the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru. An estimated 300 diplomats and businessmen are being held hostage by members of a Peruvian guerrilla group. We have a report from Lindsey Hilsum of Independent Television News.

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LINDSEY HILSUM: Within minutes of last night's attack, Peru's security forces were showing their strength. But they couldn't dislodge the 20 or so guerrillas who'd seized the embassy. The building was surrounded. Inside a marquis, held hostage about 600 guests. The guerrillas had sneaked in disguised as waiters, carrying champagne and canapes. Amongst those released in the early hours of the morning was the mother of Peru's president, Alberto Fujimori. The Red Cross are trying to mediate, but the guerrillas say they'll start shooting hostages unless their leaders and some 300 other members of their group are freed from jail.

STEVEN ANDERSON, ICRC Spokesman: (Lima) We are actually having direct contacts with the representatives of this armed group which have led the action, of the MRTA, with our head of delegation who was invited last night at the cocktail party, which was organized by the ambassador of Japan. So he was actually immediately in a position to start acting as a mediator.

LINDSEY HILSUM: Victor Polay, the leader of Tupac Amaru, was captured in 1992. Tupac Amaru was named after indigenous fighters who resisted Spanish colonialism. It started as an urban guerrilla group 12 years ago, but its and Peru's larger Maoist guerrilla group, Shining Path, have been seriously weakened in recent years, after President Alberto Fujimori unleashed the army on them. This attack is a surprise.

DUNCAN GREEN, Latin America Analyst: They're a small revolutionary guerrilla group. They believe in the traditional ideas of guerrilla organizations in Latin America, that an armed group can seize power if it makes an alliance with lots of other groups like peasants and the poor in the shanty towns, and that kind of thing. They believe basically in some kind of socialism.

LINDSEY HILSUM: President Fujimori, re-elected last year, is of Japanese descent. Under his leadership, Japan has invested in Peru and provided large amounts of aid. This attack on Japanese interests may not go down well. Smoke rising from the embassy this afternoon indicated a small explosion inside. It's not clear if anyone was hurt, but one guerrilla and two hostages are reported to have been injured earlier. With so many foreign diplomats in danger, several governments have offered to help.

JOHN ILLMAN, British Ambassador to Peru: (Lima) We are ready to respond and are, in fact, making preparations in advance to respond to any such request. And we've made it clear that the experience that we have is totally at the disposal of the Peruvian authorities should they require it.

LINDSEY HILSUM: The guerrillas have said they'll shoot Peru's foreign minister, seen here walking in on the left, who's amongst the hostages, unless they can see President Fujimori and get their members out of jail. As the hostages prepare for their second night of captivity, it's not at all certain it will be possible to resolve the siege peacefully.

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