Peru's Fujimori wooed for Japan election - Kyodo

TOKYO, June 19 (Reuters) Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, under house arrest in Chile, is being wooed by a tiny Japanese opposition party to run in an upcoming upper house election, Kyodo news agency reported today.

Fujimori, who has Japanese citizenship, appeared not have given a clear answer on whether he would run, but officials in the People's New Party plan to continue trying to persuade him, Kyodo quoted party sources as saying.

An official at the party's headquarters in Tokyo declined to comment. Fujimori, 68, was arrested in Chile in November 2005 when he arrived unexpectedly from Japan, apparently to try to launch a political comeback in Peru.

He had sought exile in Japan, the country of his parents' birth, after his government collapsed under the weight of a huge corruption scandal.

Fujimori was placed under house arrest near the Chilean capital Santiago earlier this month after Peru said it feared he might try to flee Chile to avoid extradition.

Peru has charged him with corruption and human rights abuse dating from his 1990-2000 rule.

Although tiny, the People's New Party could be a key force in Japan's upper house election expected next month, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is facing his first big electoral test amid a slide in public support ratings.

The small party could be tapped as an ally by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party if the LDP and its current coalition partner fail to rack up enough seats for a majority in the election.

Other parties including the LDP are also courting well-known figures as candidates in hopes of attracting votes.

The People's New Party is led by a group of lawmakers who left the LDP in 2005 after opposing former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plans to privatise the postal system.

REUTERS RJ RK1200