LIMA, Peru (Reuters) -- The United States said on Thursday it respected
                  President Alberto Fujimori's widely condemned reelection amid growing signs
                  Peru's leader has gained the upper hand in diplomatic battles to legitimize his third
                  term.

                  "It's our government position to respect the decision of national authorities," U.S.
                  ambassador John Hamilton said after reporters asked him whether he recognized
                  Fujimori's third five-year term despite allegations of state-sponsored fraud.

                  Hamilton's statement came two days after Peru's top election authority formally
                  recognized Fujimori as the new president after a May 28 vote labeled
                  undemocratic by international election monitors and marred by an opposition
                  boycott due to vote-rigging fears.

                  The United States has been one of the harshest critics of Fujimori's win. But its
                  calls for tough action, including political and economic sanctions, floundered
                  amid reluctance from most Latin American nations to interfere in Peru.

                  U.S. strategy appears now to recognize Fujimori but to press for democratic
                  reforms in Peru, a key regional ally for the United States in its fight against the
                  multibillion dollar cocaine smuggling industry, political analysts say.

                  The president won slightly more than half the votes in a run-off election that
                  opposition leader Alejandro Toledo boycotted because he said Fujimori, who has
                  ruled this nation of 25 million for 10 years, had rigged the vote.

                  Toledo, a former shoeshine boy turned World Bank economist, refused to
                  recognize the win and promised to march millions of supporters in July to halt
                  Fujimori's swearing-in ceremony at Congress, part of a national civil
                  disobedience campaign.

                  Besieged by international criticism of the vote as well as violent street protests in
                  the days after the election, Fujimori appeared in June to have succeeded in
                  legitimizing his third term as he notched up several political victories.

                  The 34-nation Organization of American States (OAS) is sending a mission
                  headed by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and OAS
                  Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria to press for democratic reforms, including
                  opening up pro-Fujimori media.

                  The decision to send the OAS mission effectively meant the region's top
                  diplomatic body did not reject Peru's election results, as Toledo had demanded.

                  A survey in Lima on Thursday by leading pollster Apoyo showed 55 percent of
                  Peruvians believed Fujimori's win was legitimate. Another 41 percent said it was
                  not a valid win. The margin of error of the survey of 512 people was not
                  available.

                  The OAS, the Americas' top multilateral diplomatic body, will face polarized
                  political positions between the government and opposition when it arrives on
                  June 27.

                  Toledo is demanding new elections while the government has agreed only to
                  discuss measures to make institutions, such as courts and the media, more
                  independent.

                  In another sign of the tentative legitimation of his third-term win, Fujimori
                  appears to be winning enough opposition members of Congress onto the
                  government's side to gain a majority in the new legislature.

                  After the election the president's ruling party was nine seats short of a majority.
                  But several elected opposition members have declared support for Fujimori amid
                  accusations from Toledo supporters that some were offered bribes of $10,000 a
                  month to support the government.

                  Fujimori, popular for defeating leftist guerrillas and stabilizing the economy, has
                  said the vote was fair and transparent. He won 51.20 percent against 17.68
                  percent for Toledo. Spoiled ballots accounted for 29.93 percent of the vote,
                  apparently reflecting Toledo's call for his supporters to void their ballots.