SIGHTINGS



Delta Force Presence
At Waco Now Confirmed
http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=58930
1-21-2000

 
DALLAS (UPI) - Two U.S. Army Delta Force technicians say they were at the 1993 Branch Davidian siege only to assist with surveillance equipment and did not get involved in the deadly final assault, the Dallas Morning News reported Friday.
 
The two, unidentified special forces members made the statements in depositions taken last month in Washington by lawyers for surviving Branch Davidians who have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government.
 
The lawyers and other critics of the FBI's handling of the situation have suggested that members of the Delta Force team might have been involved in the final assault. Fires broke out as tear gas was being injected into the compound by the FBI, and more than 80 Davidians died. "To the best of my knowledge...nobody that I was there with ever entered nor ever even came very close to the compound," said one Delta Force sergeant.
 
The Delta Force soldiers said they were at Waco primarily to assist the FBI in the use of some special surveillance hardware. They said there were only three members of their unit on the site during the final five days of the 51-day siege.
 
The two soldiers testified behind screens and said their Delta Force unit was so secretive that they could not divulge its name or its commanders, the paper said.
 
Lawyers for the Davidians contend that actions by the FBI and other government agencies contributed to the deaths during the final assault. They allege government agents fired shots into the compound during the final hours, but the FBI has contended for years that its agents fired no gunshots during the siege.
 
The siege began Feb. 28, 1993, when four agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were killed, along with several members of the sect. The ATF was attempting to serve search warrants for illegal firearms at the compound. -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.


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