Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280081
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The officials said they had determined late last week that the letter from a group calling itself the Liberation Army Fifth Battalion was authentic and provided the first insight into what might have prompted the attack.
The letter, mailed to The New York Times and turned over to the authorities, warned of additional actions against American civilian and military targets, including what they described as "nuclear targets." Such attacks, they said, would be forthcoming unless the United States met a series of demands, including an end to diplomatic relations with Israel and an end to interfering "with any of the Middle East countries interior affairs."
The letter described deep resentment over U.S. policies in the Middle East and said Americans themselves were responsible.
"The American people must know, that their civilians who got killed are not better than those who are getting killed by the American weapons and support," said the letter, written in occasionally faulty English.
"The American people are responsible for the actions of their government and they must question all of the crimes that their government is committing against other people," it continued. "Or they - Americans - will be the targets of our operations that could diminish them."
The letter was delivered to The New York Times four days after the Feb. 26 bombing. It was then turned over to the New York City Police Department's chief of detectives, Joseph R. Borrelli, who immediately passed it on to a federal and city task force that is investigating the terrorist attack.
Federal investigators said they determined late last week the letter had been prepared by one of the five men now in custody, law-enforcement officials said Saturday. They declined to say precisely how the determination had been made, saying that could compromise the investigation.
The four charged thus far in the bombing are: Mahmud Abohalima, 33, extradited from Egypt after fleeing there and portrayed as the mastermind; Mohammed Salameh, 25, accused of renting renting the van used to carry the bomb; Nidal A. Ayyad, 25, a chemical engineer; and Bilall Alkaisi, 27, who walked in alone to the FBI office in Newark, N.J., because he had heard agents wanted to question him.
All but Alkaisi have pleaded not guilty; he entered no plea and is to have a bail hearing Tuesday.
by CNB