7 in Radical Group Indicted in N.Y. Bombings

Seven members of a radical group called the United Freedom Front were indicted Tuesday on charges of bombing 10 military and corporation installations in the New York City area in a wave of anti-military, anti-South Africa terrorism.

The group was linked to at least two other terrorist organizations believed responsible for a series of bombings since 1983. The three groups have been linked to the bombing of the U.S. Capitol in 1983, but that attack was not mentioned in the indictment.

U.S. Atty. Raymond Dearie said the indictment charged the defendants with conspiring to bomb military targets and offices of corporations that were either military contractors or did business with South Africa. No one was injured in the bombings.

The indictment capped an FBI investigation aided by a coded diary found at a Jefferson, Ohio, home of two defendants. In the diary were the names of at least 20 New York City firms and 60 others nationwide believed to be future terrorist targets, the FBI said.

Five in Custody

Five of the seven indicted were arrested in the Cleveland area last Nov. 4 and are in custody on charges ranging from hiding a fugitive to the slaying of a New Jersey state trooper. two of the defendants are fugitives.

The 12-count indictment charged the defendants with conspiracy and counts relating to 10 bombings and one attempted bombing carried out by the United Freedom Front from Dec. 16, 1982, to Sept. 26, 1984, in New York City and its suburbs.

If convicted on all counts, thee defendants could be sentenced to a maximum of 115 years in jail. Arraignment is expected in two or three weeks, authorities said.

FBI special agent Ken Walton said the group probably financed the terrorist activities by robbing banks. He described the group’s political stance as “classic Marxist, leftist rhetoric vehemently opposed to the apartheid policy in South Africa.”