The Electronic Telegraph 25 April 1995 WORLD NEWS
[World News]

Clinton to step up intelligence war against extremists

By Hugh Davies in Washington

PRESIDENT Clinton is urging Congress to give the FBI wider intelligence powers to fight domestic terrorism in the wake of the Oklahoma bombing, which has been linked to far-Right groups.

The move, which includes powers to tap telephones, is expected to heighten the paranoia felt by far-Right groups about federal interference. But Mr Clinton has likened the step to "metal detectors at airports - a minor infringement on our freedom".

White House officials said he would seek to establish a special FBI centre to target groups such as the citizen militias now active in 20 states. Newt Gingrich, the Republican House Speaker, said he would help Mr Clinton in any "dramatic" action to assist the FBI.

Mr Clinton is seeking to lift restrictions on the FBI monitoring of radical groups. In addition, a large amount of money is to be requested for FBI infiltration operations.

Proposals are likely to provoke sharp debate over constitutional rights

Congressional approval is also being sought for agents to gain easier access to hotel registers and credit card records to track suspects but the proposals are likely to provoke sharp debate over constitutional rights.

They are also expected to embarrass Republicans, not least Senator Bob Dole, who wants to repeal the ban on semi-automatic assault weapons contained in Mr Clinton's Crime Bill.

Opposition to the ban has become a powerful recruiting tool for far-Right groups such as the Michigan Militia, to which Timothy McVeigh, charged with the Oklahoma attack, has been linked.

McVeigh was said to have been enraged by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which enforces gun control, and which had also angered the National Rifle Association, a key Republican constituency. The NRA has compared the bureau's tactics in the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, to the Nazi destruction of a Jewish ghetto.

As the Oklahoma investigation continues, the FBI said David Iniguez, 23, an army deserter arrested in California two days ago, had been eliminated from the inquiry. Agents were looking for McVeigh's accomplice, "John Doe 2".

The agency declined to comment on the status of Mark Koernke, 37, a militia leader, who disappeared from his house in Dexter, Michigan, two days ago with a carload of rifles.

  • Stephen Robinson in Oklahoma City writes: Mr Arbraham Ahmad, the American initially suspected of involvement in the bombing, said British authorities humiliated him when he was detained at Heathrow on the day after the attack.

    Mr Ahmad, said in the brief period he was mistakenly considered a suspect, he had been insulted and his wife was spat upon. "In London they were very insulting to me," he said at his Oklahoma home. He said he had been stripped, searched and handcuffed.

    Mr Ahmad, 31, added: "People automatically think the person who did this [the bombing] is from the Middle East. But this is against Islam. Because I am a Muslim, I would not do this."

    Rescuers edging towards nursery

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