U.S. Knew Of Peru Spy's Trouble
Tuesday January 22, 2002 11:20 PM

LIMA, Peru (AP) - U.S. officials continued working closely with Peruvian spymaster Vladimiro Montesinos in the anti-drug fight despite an army officer's tip that he was involved with death squad killings, newly declassified documents show.

The officer, a self-described member of a military death squad, offered in 1993 to provide U.S. officials with information linking Montesinos to the group, according to a U.S. Embassy cable released Tuesday.

The latest declassified reports provide the clearest indication yet that U.S. officials were aware early on that Montesinos, a key American ally in the drug war, was involved with a death squad.

Montesinos was former President Alberto Fujimori's right-hand man for a decade, until a corruption scandal involving the spy chief ended Fujimori's 10 years in power in November 2000. Montesinos is now in a navy prison awaiting trial on dozens of charges involving corruption, arms smuggling, drug trafficking and directing a death squad.

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