
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 25, 1990                   TAG: 9004250627
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SANTIAGO, CHILE                                LENGTH: Medium

CHILEAN COURT ORDERS LETELIER CASE REOPENED

The Supreme Court has ordered a military court to immediately reopen the investigation into the 1976 car-bomb assassination in Washington of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier and an American aide.

The court's unanimous decision Tuesday follows the recent disclosure of the identity of a woman who allegedly was involved in the murder plot.

The woman, Luisa Lagos, was quoted by a local newspaper as saying she is a former agent of Chilean secret police, known as DINA, and that she traveled to the United States in 1976 under the assumed name of Liliana Walker.

The Supreme Court ordered the military court that handled the case before it was closed to question the woman, who has been under police protection at an undisclosed location since going public last week.

The woman said she went to the United States with a DINA agent who prepared the Letelier killing.

Letelier and an American aide, Ronni Moffit, were killed Sept. 21, 1976, when his car was destroyed by a bomb in downtown Washington.

Letelier was a prominent foe of the Chilean military regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. The new civilian government of President Patricio Aylwin, who succeeded Pinochet on March 11, has promised "full cooperation with the courts" in the case.

Aylwin has appointed a panel to investigate human rights abuses during Pinochet's rule. Observers believe the group's work could lead to a number of rights trials, many involving military officers. That would set the stage for a potentially risky situation for the newly elected civilian government, however.

The 74-year-old general stepped down as president last month but remains commander-in-chief of the 60,000-man army, sheltered by a constitutional clause that prevents Aylwin from firing him.

There was no immediate comment from Pinochet on Aylwin's announcement, although he has warned in the past that he would now allow any of his men to be touched.

The lower house of Congress on Tuesday unanimously approved a government-proposed bill for the posthumous restoration of Letelier's citizenship.

The Pinochet regime had stripped him of citizenship two weeks before his death, accusing him of "actions against the interests of the Chilean nation."

by CNB