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Peru arrests siege leader, rebels hold out

LIMA: Peruvian authorities arrested a former army major who led a three-day uprising in a southern Andean town and vowed on Tuesday to storm the police station where his followers remained holed up unless they surrendered soon. With the southeastern farm town of Andahuaylas under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, Peruvian troops surrounded the police post and Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero warned: “We can’t wait too long.” The group’s leader, Antauro Humala, was arrested late on Monday. Afterward, a man identifying himself as a former army commando now in charge of 150 remaining rebels told RPP radio there were “armed people prepared to die here.” He said the insurgent group - which killed four police officers in clashes on Sunday - were holding 19 hostages, including four police commandos and 10 police officers. They were willing to negotiate an 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) surrender, he said, but would only lay down their arms in daylight because “all sorts of things can happen at night.” reuters

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