| Peru's ex-president Fujimori, longtime girlfriend register marriage in Japan | |
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The Associated Press (apwire) 
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Peru's former President Alberto Fujimori, now under arrest in Chile, married his Japanese hotel magnate girlfriend Thursday, a hotel spokesman said.
Representatives of Fujimori and longtime companion Satomi Kataoka filed a marriage registration for the couple in Tokyo, said spokesman Tetsuo Matsui.
''Today is the happiest day of my life,'' Fujimori said in a statement, according to Kyodo News agency.
Kataoka was in the Peruvian capital last month when she announced the couple's intentions to marry sometime before Peru's presidential election, scheduled for April 9. Kataoka was in Peru to support pro-Fujimori candidates.
''I was deeply impressed when I visited Peru and looked at his supporters,'' Kataoka said Thursday, according to Kyodo. ''I'm determined to stake my life protecting him.'' Fujimori, who is of Japanese ancestry, fled to Japan in November 2000 as his decade-old authoritarian government crumbled amid corruption scandals.
Last November, he flew to Chile as part of a plan to launch a political comeback but was detained on an international arrest warrant at the request of Peru, which is seeking his extradition to face criminal charges.
Fujimori faces charges in Peru including sanctioning a death squad accused of murdering 25 people, illegal phone tapping, bribing lawmakers and transferring US$15 million (euro12.23 million) to his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing.
In February, Chile's Supreme Court rejected Fujimori's appeal to be released from prison or placed under house arrest while fighting Peru's extradition request.
2006/04/06 오전 9:45
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