FBI Says Cult Leader’s Attitude Is Changing

Federal agents said Friday they believed that cult leader David Koresh’s attitude had taken on a markedly different tone, which could lead to an end to the siege of his barricaded compound within days.

“I got the impression he was not talking in terms of weeks but in terms of days,” FBI agent Bob Ricks said at the daily morning press conference here. “We believe a tone has been set so we can get this matter resolved.”

Ricks, however, stopped short of calling Koresh’s change of attitude a breakthrough, saying that negotiators had thought they were close to a resolution before, only to have the cult leader do an about-face. And he also said that while Koresh was sounding a different tone, he also was saying such things as the alignment of stars would have a bearing on when he would leave the compound.

Negotiators have been trying to get more than 100 men, women and children to leave the compound since Feb. 28, when four Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents were killed and 16 others were wounded trying to execute a search warrant seeking illegal weapons. At least three cult members were killed in the raid.

The optimism on Ricks’ part came only a day after he accused Koresh of being an irrational man incapable of carrying on an intelligent conversation. The FBI agent obviously had been angered by events of the day before, in which three buses were driven to the compound in hopes that as many as 30 people would voluntarily leave.

But Koresh cut off the talks by saying he had to use the bathroom. He did not return to the phone.

Late Friday, two men did leave the compound, the first to depart in a week, officials said.

Ricks said that at Koresh’s request, negotiators on Friday morning had sent in copies of the original search and arrest warrants, copies of Time, Newsweek and People magazines, letters from local lawyers hired by relatives of cult members and a religious audio cassette.

Ricks also said the federal team was using large speakers aimed at the compound to ensure that those inside knew of the past commitments made and then broken by Koresh to the negotiators.

“We wanted to ensure they had both sides of the conversation,” Ricks said.

Meanwhile, federal agents surrounding the compound removed some debris on the far side of the buildings, including four 55-gallon drums of diesel fuel and gasoline. Ricks said there had been a fear that those in the compound might try to use the gas and oil for incendiary devices.