Slain American’s Family Blames Administration

The U.S. government bears responsibility for the killing of American engineer Benjamin E. Linder in Nicaragua by contras , Linder’s family charged Wednesday.

“Of course it’s their (the U.S. government’s) fault,” said Linder’s father, David. “I’m too deeply infuriated right now to even begin to emote any more response than that,” Linder said outside his Portland home. “He was a great guy who did his best to make the world a better place for people to live, and because of that he got killed.”

Linder said he plans to leave soon for Nicaragua, where his 27-year-old son had said he wished to be buried.

The slain American’s brother, John, 32, angrily denounced the U.S. government at an emotional news conference that included friends and colleagues of Linder’s in the pro-Sandinista effort.

“The United States government killed my brother,” he said. “The contras killed my brother, and Reagan says he’s a contra. Congress provided the money for the contras. . . . The bullets that were used or the grenades that were used to kill my brother undoubtedly came from the United States.

“His death was not an accident. My brother was a victim of United States policy . . . a victim of contra policy. The CIA told the contras to do this.

“I would call my brother an American hero, and I will say that he will not have died in vain,” John Linder said.

In Honduras, a spokesman for the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the main contra group, acknowledged Wednesday that its soldiers killed Linder but said the death was an accident of war and blamed the Sandinista government for allowing him to work there.

“That is a zone of conflict with much troop movement,” Adela Icaza of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force said.

“We are sorry for the consequences,” she said. “(Linder) knew perfectly well the risks that he ran to be in a war zone accompanied by Nicaraguan army soldiers.”

In Seattle, the group that sponsored Linder charged Wednesday that he was on a contra hit list because of his volunteer work for the Sandinistas.