1.  Under certain conditions, the Peruvian military can open fire and shoot down suspect planes.

2.  Established procedures call for Peruvian fighters that approach suspect planes to use hand signals and send radio messages to make contact.

3.  Finally, if such fire does not cause the pilot of the suspect plane to cooperate, the regional commander may order it shot down.

4.  The crew aboard the surveillance plane was surprised when the Peruvian fighter attacked the suspect plane without a thorough check to identify it, officials said.

5.  The U.S. crew of the surveillance plane has no role beyond tracking the suspect plane.

6.  The surveillance craft would have a strict code of instructions to identify and communicate with other aircraft before trying to force a suspect plane to the ground.

7.  The central African country plunged into an ethnic bloodbath in April, following the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana in a suspect plane crash.