Iranian ambassador.--Stephen V Cole

Seeking international points for being a nice guy, Peruvian President Fujimori (re-elected in May amid charges of vote fraud) has ordered a new civilian trial for American Lori Berenson, convicted of terrorism five years ago by a military court. Berenson helped a group of rebels gain entry to a government building as a tour group; the rebels later attacked the building. The military trial convicted Berenson of knowingly helping to plot the attack. She insists that she new nothing of the planned attack, although she is unable to refute charges that she knew her companions were rebels. Human rights groups have complained that Ms Berenson is held in conditions that could generously be called barbaric. Her parents have campaigned since her arrest for her to be released as an innocent victim of a corrupt government.--Stephen V