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04/04/93
Cult negotiations turn to milk, other mundane items; Agents hope Passover brings a break in Branch Davidian impasse
By Victoria Loe / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-Chicken feed.
As the siege of the Branch Davidian compound enters its sixth
week, that's what Branch Davidians and federal negotiators are talking about.
David Koresh and his lieutenant, Steve Schneider, told negotiators Friday night that discussions with their attorneys had been helpful, an FBI spokesman said Saturday. However, Mr. Schneider said that "God is still telling Mr. Koresh to wait,' said Special Agent Bob Ricks.
While he waits, substantive negotiations between the cult and the government are in abeyance. The few contacts between the two sides have focused on mundane matters, Agent Ricks said.
Sect members have asked for milk. They have also requested feed for their chickens. Agent Ricks didn't indicate whether the requested items had been delivered.
With Passover coming this week, authorities suggested anew that there's some potential for a break in dealings with Mr. Koresh.
"These are times when either his position within the Branch Davidians has changed or when he gets additional messages from God,' Agent Ricks said.
The FBI representative also disclosed new details Saturday of videotapes agents have received from inside the compound. One tape showed various cult children being quizzed about their faith, he said.
Each child was asked, "Do you love David?' Each answered yes.
Asked what would happen to people outside the compound, they
answered, "God is going to kill everybody out there or God is going to smite them,' Agent Ricks said.
Four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and an unknown number of sect members died in a gun battle Feb. 28, when agents attempted to search the sect's compound and arrest Mr. Koresh.
Last week, the government allowed Houston lawyers Dick DeGuerin and Jack B. Zimmermann to meet with Mr. Koresh and Mr. Schneider in an attempt to end the stalemate.
Mr. Zimmermann, reached Saturday evening by phone in Houston, said neither he nor Mr. DeGuerin had heard from their clients. "We didn't get our call or I wouldn't be in Houston,' he said.
There was initial hope for a quick breakthrough after the lawyers' meeting, but Agent Ricks sounded less optimistic Saturday.
As to whether the lengthy legal consultations were likely to resolve the impasse, the agent said: "I wish I knew. I really don't.'
Agent Ricks described Passover as a time of great significance for the Branch Davidians. The celebration, which commemorates ancient Israelites' delivery from captivity in Egypt, is considered "a time of transition' for Mr. Koresh, he said.
The sect leader has talked of receiving prophecies during Passover in previous years, including the revelation that he was to take multiple wives, Agent Ricks said.
There is some question about when the Jewish holy day begins for the cult members, whose beliefs draw on elements of Judaism and Christianity.
Most American Jews will celebrate Passover beginning Monday at sundown, but Branch Davidians may follow a different calendar, according to which it begins Tuesday.
Agent Ricks said some sect members have indicated their observance could last from three to eight days.
A year ago, according to The Associated Press, some former cult members complained to police that Mr. Koresh had ordered a mass suicide at Passover. Mr. Koresh denied that then and has said during the standoff that his group is not considering suicide.
Passover is "a very important day,' said Oliver Gyarfas, who left the cult compound on the 13th day of the standoff. "We may receive a blessing out of it.'
Also Saturday, ATF spokesman David Troy downplayed his earlier statement that Mr. Koresh had cultivated a friendly contact inside a local law enforcement agency.
"Very early in the investigation, in the spring of 1992, we had some indications that he might have had a source,' said Agent Troy, who is the ATF's intelligence division chief.
Authorities believed the source was not providing Mr. Koresh with anything more sensitive than criminal background checks and license plate records, he said, and the issue "never came up again.'
"We are not putting a lot of credibility' in suggestions that the source might have compromised the operation against the Mount Carmel compound, he said.
Agent Troy again admonished ATF agents not to talk to the news media, but he said none will be disciplined for doing so.
Some agents have told reporters that raid commanders knew Mr.
Koersh might have been tipped off but decided to proceed with the raid anyway.
Agent Troy echoed words spoken by the agency's director, Stephen E. Higgins, saying he is "not quarreling' with those reports. But he said the full story can only properly be revealed in the course of an upcoming Treasury Department review.
"We'll take the good with the bad,' he said.
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