Fugitive former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori has topped a presidential preference poll taken in Lima, the Peruvian capital. The Center for Public Opinion and Democracy survey of 500 adult Lima residents found that Mr. Fujimori - currently in exile in Japan - comes in first, with 20 percent support, among potential candidates for the 2006 presidential election.
He beat Lima Mayor Luis Castaneda and former President Alan Garcia, who each drew support from about 14 percent of the polled respondents. Peruvian officials have twice sought to extradite the former president on corruption charges since he left for Japan in 2000. The son of Japanese immigrants, he holds dual citizenship.
Mr. Fujimori faces charges in the murders of suspected rebels and on embezzling state funds, and the Peruvian congress banned him from holding public office for 10 years shortly after he left for Japan.