Peru's Roman Catholic hierarchy and Protestant community have welcomed President Alberto Fujimori's decision to call new elections as "soon as possible."

President Fujimori, whose government is deeply unpopular, said in his announcement on September 16 that he would not stand for re-election. But the fate of Fujimori's intelligence adviser Valdimiro Montesinos, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that sparked the president's decision, continues to cause much controversy. Montesinos has since fled Peru, but the scandal he created has forced Fujimori to make concessions to an angry nation.

President Fujimori's announcement astonished Peruvians, coming only 45 days after the president was sworn in for a third term in office. Fujimori won the second round of Peru's general elections in late May after rival candidate Alejandro Toledo pulled out.

Toledo claimed that conditions did not exist for a free and fair vote. The run-up to the vote and the elections themselves were widely criticized both at home and abroad.

Fujimori's swearing-in was greeted by violent street protests that left six dead and four government buildings torched.

Bishop Luis Bambaren, president of the Peruvian (Catholic) Bishops' Conference, described the announcement by President Fujimori as "a noble, healthy measure for the country."

Anglican Bishop William Godfrey said "new elections are a positive thing for a country that was so polarized [by the previous elections]."

Making his announcement, President Fujimori broke two days of silence after an opposition party released a video showing Montesinos bribing a congressman to switch to President Fujimori's Peru 2000 party. Congress is dominated by Fujimori's opponents. More than a dozen congressmen have ...