Peru formally asked Japan today to extradite its disgraced former president, Mr Alberto Fujimori, to face criminal charges including murder and kidnapping.
But Japan, which has no extradition treaty with Peru and considers Mr Fujimori a Japanese citizen, signalled it was likely to reject the demand.
Peruvian ambassador Mr Luis Machiavello handed over a 700-page thick document detailing the requests to a senior Japanese foreign ministry official.
Peru has been hoping Japan will make an exception because of the nature of the charges.
Mr Fujimori, who fled to Japan in November 2000 amid a corruption scandal, is considered a Japanese citizen because his parents registered him with consular authorities as an infant.
A Peruvian Foreign Ministry statement spoke of "serious violations against human rights" and said the charges against him included murder, kidnapping and inflicting grievous wounds.
But Mr Fujimori enjoys celebrity status in Japan, where he is remembered as the heroic rescuer of hostages held at the Japanese ambassador's resident in Lima six years ago. He lives in an upscale Tokyo neighbourhood.
The murder charges against the former president stem from two massacres during his war on the Maoist rebel group the Shining Path.
Prosecutors accuse Mr Fujimori of authorising a military death squad to kill 15 suspected leftist guerrillas in 1991 and nine students and a professor at the La Cantuta University in 1992.
He denies these and corruption charges stemming from his autocratic 1990-2000 rule, saying they are a ploy by his political enemies and that he would not get a fair trial if he returned.