MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Ex-Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman
                 allegedly spent $1.7 million on jewelry, clothing, hotels and entertainment
                 using a government credit card, Nicaragua's two major newspapers reported
                 Thursday.

                 La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario said that they had obtained copies of the credit
                 card's records showing the charges allegedly rung up by Aleman from 1997 to
                 2002. Aleman concluded his term in office in January.

                 The newspapers said the expenses were charged to an American Express card that
                 was used by the president's office but that was issued in the name of the
                 then-Central Bank president, Noel Ramirez.

                 "The money didn't come from the Central Bank, but from the president's budget
                 and that of the treasury secretary," Ramirez told reporters during a summit of
                 Central American presidents Thursday in the city of Granada, 65 kilometers (40
                 miles) east of the capital, Managua.

                 Aleman, intercepted at the summit by reporters, refused to comment.

                 Nicaragua's current vice president, Jose Rizo, said he felt "profoundly
                 uncomfortable" with the reports. "I feel hurt," he said, without elaborating. He did
                 not indicate what action, if any, the current government would take in response to
                 the reports.

                 Among Aleman's alleged purchases, the newspapers said, were $60,564 worth of
                 jewelry bought in Thailand, the United States, India and Italy; and a $24,585 stay at
                 the luxurious Hotel Camino Real in Mexico.

                  Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.