FEAR OF MASS SUICIDE PROMPTED AGENTS' ASSAULT ON COMPOUND

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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993                   TAG: 9303060108
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
FEAR OF MASS SUICIDE PROMPTED AGENTS' ASSAULT ON COMPOUND
A tip from the State Department that a Texas religious cult was contemplating mass suicide prompted Treasury agents to launch their raid on the heavily armed group, a federal official said Friday.
The State Department had relayed information from Australians connected with the sect that its leader David Koresh was contemplating a mass suicide in the compound, said the official of the Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which conducted the raid last Sunday.
With that information, ATF officials decided to stage a high-risk entry rather than surround the compound and demand the surrender of Koresh, said the ATF official, who declined to be identified by name.
"We did not believe we could besiege these people without the very real possibility of a mass suicide," the ATF official said.
On Friday, however, Koresh told negotiators he had no intention of committing suicide, FBI agent Bob Ricks said.
The ATF official said that, in passing along "anecdotal information," the State Department "cited numerous sources in Australia." The State Department received the information in cable from the U.S. Embassy in April 1992, but it was not immediately known when the information was relayed to ATF, another ATF official said.
State Department officials, asking not to be identified, say the agency has been receiving information from confidential sources since July 1990 about the Branch Davidian.
The State Department officials noted there also had been press reports in Australia that the cult was preparing a suicide pact, that they were stockpiling arms and that it might be dangerous if federal agents tried to move in.
A number of Australians are believed to be staying at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, where a standoff has ensued between federal agents and cult members since Sunday's shootout.
The 45-minute gun battle occurred when agents tried to enter the compound and arrest Koresh on federal weapons charges. Four ATF agents were killed and 16 wounded. A reported 10 cult members died in the shooting.
Since Sunday, federal agents have been negotiating with Koresh and other members of the sect and two women and 21 children have been released from the compound.
Members of the Branch Davidian, an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist church, believe they are preparing for Armageddon, the final fight between good and evil.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB