Alberto Fujimori

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has denied claims by his ex-wife that scars on her neck and temples resulted from torture by agents of his government.

Mr. Fujimori issued a statement Monday from Tokyo, saying Susana Higuchi's scars came from a natural healing therapy she underwent to stop smoking and relieve back pain.

The former president said Ms. Higuchi had undergone "moxibustion," a traditional Chinese practice involving the application of burning mixtures of herbs to the body.

His remarks come days after Ms. Higuchi said she had been tortured some 500 times by Mr. Fujimori's intelligence agents. She also displayed the scars on her skin to back up her claims.

Mr. Fujimori and Ms. Higuchi divorced in the 1990's. The former president now lives in self-imposed exile in his parents' native Japan. Mr. Fujimori fled Peru after his government collapsed in November 2000 amid a corruption scandal involving his now-jailed former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.

Peru has repeatedly asked Japan to extradite Mr. Fujimori, who has since become a naturalized Japanese citizen. Japan does not extradite its nationals and has no such agreement with Peru.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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