Peru clamps down for Bush visit, OKs terror plan

LIMA, Peru, March 22 (Reuters) - Peru mobilized thousands of riot police, readied planes and sent out warships on Friday to keep U.S. President George W. Bush safe during his weekend visit, while the government promised to crack down on terror following a deadly bomb attack near Lima's U.S. Embassy. 

"The state is moving to defeat terror and ensure security for all Peruvians. On this issue we cannot flinch," President Alejandro Toledo told Congress, promising to double security spending in a raft of special measures after a car bomb killed nine Wednesday across the street from the bunker-like embassy. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the car-bomb, which recalled the fearful years of violence in Peru's war against leftist rebels that killed 30,000 in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Pledging to act with an "iron fist" against terror attacks, Toledo offered a $1 million reward for leads in the attack. Congress swiftly approved his anti-terror measures. 

Toledo has hailed Bush's 17-hour visit to Lima as a slap on the back for democracy after the Andean nation was tarnished by the corruption that felled the hard-line regime of former President Alberto Fujimori in 2000. 

The government has said it will take no chances in clamping down on security this weekend. 

Some 7,000 police and soldiers were on "red alert," while off the coast of this sprawling, chaotic city of 8 million, two frigates stood guard on Thursday night and helicopters buzzed the sky. Streets around the plush oceanside hotel where Bush will stay on Saturday were strictly no-go and security guards with long-handled mirrors were checking cars in parking lots. 

Riot police wearing bullet-proof jackets shut down much of Lima's busy colonial center to its usual thick street commerce and snarled traffic, checking identification cards near the presidential palace where Bush will meet Toledo, the leaders of Colombia and Bolivia and Ecuador's vice president. 

SECURITY TIGHT, PROTESTERS JEER BUSH 

"Bush's visit hasn't brought anything but death and more problems. It would be better if he doesn't come. ... I'm scared to death," said 32-year-old bank cashier Patricia de Figallo. 

With Bush leading a global war on terror in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when suspected Islamic extremists rammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, crack Peruvian soldiers staged mock seizures of hijackers in drills. 

The air force readied MiG-29 fighters as the government, which is temporarily closing Peru's air space, vowed to shoot down unauthorized air traffic during the visit. 

Bush arrives in Lima from a U.N. development conference in Monterrey, Mexico, for a visit expected to tackle free trade and, perhaps more key now, the U.S.-led war on terror. 

The United States is pushing to curb the flow of illegal drugs from the Andean region that produces most of the world's cocaine. The United States is the world's top drug consumer. 

Analysts say Bush could seek Toledo's support for a censure motion against Cuba -- under a four-decade U.S. embargo -- at a U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva. 

But protesters in central Lima jeered Bush's much-vaunted visit, carrying signs showing him with devil's horns, and burning an American flag. Municipal workers, meanwhile, brushed gray paint over scrawled red and black graffiti reading "Destroy the oppressive system" and "genocidal Yankees." 

"Toledo wants to make a big deal out of the fact a U.S. president is coming here and he doesn't care if we Peruvians are blown to bits," said taxi driver Luis Calle. 

AVOIDING 'MISTAKES OF THE PAST' 

In a special session of Congress, Toledo said the state would not hesitate to crush violence. "Peru needs to defend itself. We won't fall into the mistakes of the past," he said. 

Toledo pledged a greater state presence in remote mountain and jungle areas where officials say rebels are on the move. 

While cautioning that it is too early to lay blame for the attack, Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi said anti-terror authorities were following leads in the bomb attack and examining security videos from the embassy and a nearby bank. 

The United States has pointed to Shining Path, the Maoist group that was once one of the world's mostly grisly rebel organizations, who officials say now boasts just 450 die-hard militants but whose military prowess is "very limited." 

Rebel and military experts disagreed on whether Shining Path could be behind the attack, but concurred in ruling out Peru's other insurgency, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, known for a 1996-97 Lima hostage siege. 

With Bush looking to step up the fight against leftist rebels in Colombia, other experts said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could have had a hand in the attack. 

Some Peruvians blamed supporters of Fujimori and his jailed former spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, since they had the most to lose from Peru's return to democracy. Fujimori denied any link and condemned the attack from his self-exile in Tokyo. 

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