LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Opposition candidate Alejandro Toledo has solidified second
                  place in the race against President Alberto Fujimori and could upset the dictatorial
                  leader's re-election bid, a poll showed Friday.

                  Toledo, a one-time shoeshine boy turned economist, trails by 10 percentage points
                  behind Fujimori in the national poll released by the private firm Apoyo. However,
                  Fujimori is not projected to win an outright majority in the April 9 vote, and the poll
                  shows Toledo in a dead heat with Fujimori in a second round runoff.

                  However, a political climate characterized by alleged government pressure tactics and
                  dirty tricks calls into question whether the vote will produce a clean and fair outcome.

                  A joint mission of the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute and Carter Center on
                  Friday released a scathing report on pre-election conditions in Peru.

                  "The conditions for a fair election campaign have not been established," the report
                  stated. "Irreparable damage to the integrity of the election process has already been
                  done, but improvements still can be made because candidates and parties are
                  competing, citizens are participating in the process and the electoral outcomes are not
                  assured."

                  There was no immediate response Friday from Fujimori or his government to the
                  NDI-Carter Center findings.

                  Toledo trailed Fujimori 27 percent to 37 percent in the Apoyo poll. He has rocketed
                  ahead from fourth place last month, while Fujimori has weakened slightly.

                  "At this point the most probable scenario is that Peru will have a second round vote
                  between Fujimori and Toledo," said Apoyo's director, Alfredo Torres, adding that the
                  poll indicates a runoff result of Toledo with 44 percent and Fujimori with 43 percent.

                  The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Apoyo surveyed
                  1,812 Peruvians across the Andean nation of 25 million people.

                  Fujimori's unprecedented third-term re-election bid -- widely considered
                  unconstitutional -- has been tainted by alleged election fraud and accusations that his
                  government has waged a systematic, illegal campaign of intimidation and dirty tricks
                  to discredit his opponents.

                  Peru's National Elections Board, dominated by Fujimori's appointees, has rejected calls
                  to nullify Fujimori's candidacy.

                   Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.