A lawyer for Vladimiro Montesinos denied Peru's jailed...

A lawyer for Vladimiro Montesinos denied Peru's jailed former spy chief had ordered the execution of 14 rebel hostage-takers at the climax of a 1997 hostage siege in Lima.
Prosecutors are investigating the dramatic commando raid on the Japanese ambassador's residence - where 72 VIPs were held for 126 days by leftist rebels of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA - to establish whether the hostage-takers were shot dead after being captured or surrendering.
All 14 rebels, one hostage and two commandos died in the daring operation, in which soldiers burst into the residence from secretly drilled underground tunnels.
"I deny and completely reject that he gave the order," Montesinos' lawyer Estela Valdivia told reporters. Montesinos was chief political fixer and right-hand-man to disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori during his hard-line 1990-2000 rule. A judge recently sparked outrage by ordering the arrest of 12 officers who took part in the rescue.
The government, hailing the commandos as heroes, says the arrest order is an exaggeration because they are unlikely to flee and no proof has been presented.