LIMA, February 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 750 inmates from different
jails in Peru refused on Friday to end the hunger strike they
started late Monday, calling for the suspension of their sentences,
new trials and penitentiary benefits.
   The inmates on hunger strike are indicted or sentenced on
terrorism charges, as Peruvian authorities call guerrillas anti-
government activists.
   The hunger strike was commenced by leaders of guerrilla groups
Shining Path, or Sendero Luminoso, and the Tupac Amaru
Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) at the maximum security prison of
the El Callao naval base near Lima.
   The protest in El Callao extended to other prisons around the
country, such as Lima's Castro Castro and Puno's Capilla and
Challapallca in the southeast.
   In the Castro Castro prison, some 350 inmates accused of having
ties with guerrillas are on the hunger strike, said Wilfredo
Pedraza, a prison mediator.
   Pedraza said he is prepared to visit El Callao, where he will
request Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman and MRTA chief Victor
Polay to suspend the hunger strike.
   Justice Minister Fernando Olivera said the government will not
respond to any of the inmates' demands.
   Relatives of the inmates on hunger strike demonstrated outside
the Congress, demanding their sentences be annulled or new trials
be held.  Enditem