50 die in Amazon jungle battle

Indigenous protesters and Peru's Army refused to back down and a truce looked distant yesterday after two battles in the Amazon jungle killed about 50 people in the worst crisis of President Alan Garcia's term.

Protesters said 30 of their own died and the government said 22 members of the security forces perished in two days of clashes over Garcia's drive to bring foreign companies to the rainforest to open mines and drill for oil.