Cuban asylum deal offered to MRTA rebels

LIMA - Peruvian rebels holding 72 hostages in Lima would fly to asylum in Cuba and take some captives with them under a broad…

LIMA - Peruvian rebels holding 72 hostages in Lima would fly to asylum in Cuba and take some captives with them under a broad deal to end the crisis, now entering its 99th day, without bloodshed, a Japanese diplomatic source said.

The source said the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) hostage-takers agreed to accepting a safe haven in Cuba, and Peru agreed to allow some captives to go along on the Cubana de Aviacion asylum flight.

The government initially rejected that MRTA demand but later agreed to let the rebels take at least eight hostages, including the Foreign Minister, Mr Francisco Tudela, and the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Morihisha Aoki, the source added.