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U.S. to Press for Probe of Killings

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Bush Administration said Thursday that it will ask the government of El Salvador to investigate the murders of six Roman Catholic priests and two civilian women, but officials said that they have no evidence that Salvadoran government forces are responsible for the killings.

“We do not know who committed this barbarous act, which we condemn in the strongest possible terms,” State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said. She added that the Administration is accelerating the delivery of military aid to the Salvadoran army, which is battling a major offensive by Marxist guerrillas in the capital of San Salvador.

A human rights group and Democrats in Congress said that they had received credible reports that Salvadoran troops carried out the murders, in which six Jesuit priests, a cook and her 15-year-old daughter were killed.

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“At least one eyewitness saw uniformed armed men entering the Jesuit rectory right before the murders,” the human rights group, Americas Watch, said in a letter to Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

But Asst. Secretary of State Bernard Aronson, in a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, said that the Administration has no information about the murders, according to representatives who were present.

Several Democrats said they were angered by Aronson’s account.

“He said he had no verification that they had even occurred,” said California Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez). “Yet he could verify every FMLN (rebel) killing for the last 24 years.” “He said there are lots of armed men in San Salvador who wear uniforms, (and asked) ‘how would we know who they were?’ ” recalled another source who was present.

California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said that she asked Aronson whether the Administration would stop U.S. military aid to El Salvador if it were established that the army had carried out the murders.

“He said we shouldn’t cut off the aid, but those people should be brought to justice,” she said. “My question is, when does a violation of human rights become the government’s responsibility?”

Aronson’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the congressional accounts.

Pelosi, Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass.) and 113 other members of Congress sent a telegram to Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani and to leaders of the rebel’s Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front asking them to agree to a cease-fire and to resume peace negotiations.

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But Aronson told House members that the Administration does not favor a cease-fire, because it would allow the rebels to resupply their troops, according to several congressmen.

The Administration has requested $85 million in military aid and $285 million in economic aid for El Salvador, which has been locked in civil war since 1980.

Members of Congress said that, despite the Democrats’ complaints about the Administration’s position, there is little prospect of any reduction in aid.

“People aren’t willing to take that step, partly because there’s no sympathy for the FMLN,” said Pelosi.

Tutwiler said that U.S. Ambassador William G. Walker has been instructed to press for a full investigation of the killings by Salvadoran authorities.

Salvadoran officials have investigated several major murders among thousands of death-squad killings during the past decade, but few cases have resulted in convictions.

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