71.   Tupac Amaru leader Nestor Cerpa is demanding freedom for hundreds of jailed comrades, but President Alberto Fujimori has publicly ruled that out.

72.   Velazco has presented the Tupac Amaru rebels as the protector of the poor, with the right to demand the release of hundreds of jailed comrades.

73.   Heavily-armed leftist rebels seized hundreds of people, foreign diplomats and Peruvian officials hostage late Tuesday, demanding that their jailed comrades be set free.

74.   In Lima Monday, MRTA leader Nestor Cerpa said he had discussed a possible plan for the release of jailed comrades with a government interlocutor.

75.   The rebels have threatened to kill their hostages if the Peruvian government refuses to release their jailed comrades.

76.   The rebels have not reacted to that meeting, nor backed down on their demands, including the release of jailed comrades.

77.   The rebels have publicly insisted that they be freed in the Peruvian jungle along with their jailed comrades, not given asylum in the Caribbean.

78.   The rebels sought to negotiate the release of jailed comrades and the Peruvian government has said no.

79.   The rebels had demanded the release of their jailed comrades which Fujimori flatly rejected.

80.   The Tupac Amaru guerrillas vowed afterwards to continue the fight to free their jailed comrades, one of the key demands of the hostage-takers.