Lima - President Alberto Fujimori of Peru accused his opponents at the weekend of plotting to set fire to the Congress building and compared them to terrorists, after violent clashes marred his inauguration.
Rioting in the capital, Lima, on Friday left six people dead and several buildings in flames during demonstrations by tens of thousands of Peruvians against Mr Fujimori as he started a third five-year term in office. The President said that demonstrators had conceived a "totally delirious plan to burn the Congress building so that the President-elect could not be sworn in".
"What infamy if they had burned Congress!" Mr Fujimori said, praising security forces for cracking down on demonstrators.