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

DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993                   TAG: 9310020178
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

AGENTS BLAMED FOR WACO

A Justice Department report on the fire that consumed a cult compound near Waco, Texas, and killed most of the group's members criticizes mid- and lower-level federal agents there who recommended that negotiations be abandoned in favor of a tear gas assault, according to law enforcement and administration officials who have read the report.

But the report is said to clear Attorney General Janet Reno and senior officials from the FBI of making any significant mistakes, even though Reno, acting on the advice of the senior bureau officials, ordered the assault on April 19 in which armored vehicles punched holes in the compound and filled it with gas.

The report is the administration's second assessment of the handling of the cult. Thursday, the Treasury Department issued a scathing critique of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Treasury agency that raided the compound Feb. 28.

The report coming out next week and the one issued on Thursday - both ordered by President Clinton - make clear that from beginning to end there were fundamental errors in the way the government approached the case of the Branch Davidians.

But in contrast to the Thursday review, which criticized Washington officials as negligent by leaving the initial raid to inexperienced field agents, the Justice investigation of itself will say that to the extent there were problems, they were beyond the reach of senior officials in Washington.

But officials said the Justice Department report will say that senior Washington officials decided on the assault despite conflicting evaluations from Waco. According to a portion of the report, some FBI experts in behavior had warned the cult was likely to fight to the finish or kill themselves.

by CNB