Lori Berenson goes home for the holidays

Lori Berenson arrived home in Manhattan Tuesday following a flight from Peru, where she'd spent more than 15 years imprisoned for aiding terrorists in the 1990s.

Berenson, 42, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1996 for treason over her support of the Tupac Amaru rebel group. She was paroled in November 2010.

All she would say after getting out of a private car outside the East Side apartment where she grew up was, "I appreciate the interest, but I am not making any comments."

Berenson, whose flight from Lima, Peru, landed at Newark Liberty International Airport just after 7:30 a.m., is making her first visit to the United States since her arrest in 1995.

She was accompanied by her mother, Rhoda, her toddler son Salvador and a male relative when she stepped from a private car outside the building on East 25th Street.

Her mother simply said: "I'm very happy."

Earlier, Rhoda Berenson said she was "looking forward to the first holiday at home in a long, long time, and many relatives who haven't met Salvador are excited to see him."

A military court in Peru convicted Berenson of treason in 1996, sentencing her to life in prison for helping the rebel group rent a safe house where authorities seized a cache of weapons following a shootout.

But U.S. pressure after Berenson said she never joined the group prompted a civilian court trial, where she was convicted and sentenced to 20 years.

Berenson was paroled in November 2010, but, by law, she must remain in Peru until her full sentence lapses -- unless it is commuted by President Ollanta Humala.

Berenson was allowed to return to the United States for a visit, but has been ordered to return to Peru by Jan. 11.

Her father, Mark Berenson, told The Associated Press his daughter has every intention of returning to Peru.

Tupac Amaru raided the Japanese embassy in Peru in 1996 during a party and held 72 hostages for more than four months. A raid killed all the rebel hostage takers.

Berenson on Monday was accompanied in Lima by a U.S. Embassy worker. She told the AP she will return.

With Maria Alvarez, John Valenti and AP