Mr Fujimori's lawyers think Peru will allow him into office if he wins

Mr Fujimori is currently in jail in Chile awaiting extradition to Peru to face human rights charges and is banned from holding public office until 2012.

He fled to Japan in 2000 after his government was mired in a corruption scandal, but denies any wrongdoing.

Electoral chiefs will decide next week whether to accept his registration.

Some 2,000 people gathered in the centre of Lima, Peru's capital, to hear Mr Fujimori's daughter, Keiko, and his two vice-presidential candidates.

The crowd, many carrying images of the man who led Peru throughout the 1990s, moved through Lima to the offices of the electoral board.

"This is a happy day. We won't accept more persecution of my father," Keiko Fujimori told supporters.

Divisive figure

However, opinion polls in Peru show a drop in support for his candidacy since he was arrested in November.

Mr Fujimori's daughter Keiko (r) led a procession through Lima

He arrived in Chile on 7 November hoping to launch his presidential bid, only to find himself under arrest and facing possible extradition to Peru.

Mr Fujimori, who says the charges against him are politically motivated, is a divisive figure in Peruvian society.

To some he was the saviour of a country on the verge of economic collapse and racked by political violence.