Letter to Paper Sets Blame for N.Y. Blast

A group opposing U.S. aid to Israel sent a letter to the New York Times claiming responsibility for the World Trade Center bombing, and authorities told the newspaper it was written by a person charged in the explosion.

The letter said that unless the United States severed relations with Israel and met other demands involving Middle East policy, additional attacks would be carried out by a group called the Liberation Army Fifth Battalion, the newspaper reported in today’s editions. According to the letter writer, the group had “more than 150 suicidal soldiers” and would attack both military and civilian targets.

“The American people are responsible for the actions of their government and they must question all of the crimes that their government is committing against other people,” the newspaper quoted the letter as saying. “Or they--Americans--will be the targets of our operations that could diminish them.”

The letter demanded that the United States halt all military, economic and political aid to Israel, and not interfere in the internal affairs of any Middle East country.

The newspaper said it received the letter four days after the Feb. 26 bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others.

The newspaper did not say which suspect was the author. Four people have been charged with taking part in the bombing.

“There is no question that the letter was prepared by a member of this cell,” an investigator who was not identified told the newspaper. “It’s the kind of evidence admissible in court.”