DATE=7/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WACO INVESTIGATION (L)
NUMBER=2-264668
BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  An investigation has declared the United 
States government did nothing wrong when it took 
action in 1993 to end a standoff in Waco, Texas, 
headquarters of a religious sect known as the Branch 
Davidians.  Authorities surrounded the sect members' 
compound in Waco for 51 days.  As they tried to move 
in, a fire destroyed the site and left 80 members of 
the group dead.  VOA's Michael Leland has more.

TEXT:  A report by the government's special counsel in 
the case, former U-S Senator John Danforth, sought to 
answer what Mr. Danforth called "four dark questions":  
Did U-S government agents start the fire that killed 
the Davidians?  Did government agents shoot at 
Davidians on the day of the fire?  Was the U-S 
military improperly used in ending the standoff?  And 
did the U-S government engage in a major cover-up 
afterwards?  Mr. Danforth says he has concluded with 
100-percent certainty that the answer to all of those 
questions is "no."

                  /// DANFORTH ACT ///

      Responsibility for the tragedy at Waco rests 
      with certain of the Branch Davidians and their 
      leader, David Koresh, who shot and killed four 
      [gopvernment] A-T-F agents, wounded 20 others, 
      shot at F-B-I agents trying to insert tear gas 
      into the complex, burned down the complex and 
      shot at least 20 of their own people, including 
      five children.

                    /// END ACT ///

Mr. Danforth released his preliminary findings Friday 
in (the Midwest city of) St. Louis.  It is the result 
of hundreds of interviews, a review of one-and-one-
half-million pages of documents, and the results of a 
reenactment of events on the final day of the siege.  
The firm that conducted the simulation, Vector Data 
Systems of Great Britain, says it compared results of 
its reenactment with videotape taken during the final 
hours of the standoff.  It says it was unable to 
detect any gunfire from either federal agents or 
Branch Davidian members.  Davidian attorneys have 
called Vector's conclusions "fatally flawed."

It is the second time in a week the U-S government has 
been cleared of wrongdoing in ending the Waco siege.  
Last week, an advisory jury in a civil trial ruled the 
government was not negligent in trying to end the 
matter.  The judge in that case has yet to deliver his 
final ruling.  

The 51-day standoff at the Davidian compound began 
February 28th, 1993, when a gunfight erupted as 
federal agents attempted to serve the Davidians with 
search and arrest warrants for possible weapons 
charges.  Four federal agents and six Davidians died 
in the fight.   (Signed)

NEB/MJL/WTW



21-Jul-2000 16:06 PM EDT (21-Jul-2000 2006 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.