Peruvians demand the truth from Montesinos

He also told officials the names of the people who were protecting Mr Montesinos, moving him between hideouts in Caracas.

Peruvian and Venezuelan security forces moved to arrest Mr Montesinos on Saturday.

Competing claims

Venezuela, Peru and the US have all tried to play up their own intelligence services' role in the arrest.

Peru's Foreign Minister, Javier Perez de Cuellar, said the operation was possible thanks to the FBI and Peru's police.

Notably, he did not thank Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his country's support. This fuelled suspicions that Peru's government considers Venezuela was at best neutral, at worst opposed to Mr Montesinos' capture.

Analysts point out that in 1992, while head of Peru's intelligence service, Mr Montesinos helped arrange asylum for 93 Venezuelan military officers - associates of Mr Chavez - following an attempted coup.

Peru's Interior Minister, Antonio Ketin Vidal, said Mr Montesinos was found being protected by five or six security guards, apparently Venezuelan nationals.

Mr Vidal's Venezuelan counterpart, Luis Miquilena, said an investigation was under way to see if corrupt Venezuelan police had been looking after Mr Montesinos.

Mr Vidal said a $5m reward the government offered for Mr Montesinos' arrest has not been paid, "for the moment".