Terror

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - FBI chief Louis Freeh Friday removed Larry Potts
from the law enforcement agency's number two post because of controversy over his role in a 1992 shootout in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

``I believe that Mr. Potts is unable to effectively perform his duties as
deputy director due to controversy surrounding the Ruby Ridge matter,'' Freeh said in a terse, three-paragraph statement.

The FBI director transferred Potts, who had been promoted just 10 weeks
ago with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, to a job in the
training unit, effective immediately.

In his previous position as one of several assistant FBI directors, Potts
supervised the Idaho siege, in which the wife of white separatist Randy
Weaver was accidentally killed by an FBI sharpshooter, and the disastrous
1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

Controversy over the Idaho incident escalated this week when the Justice
Department disclosed it was investigating whether a suspended FBI official, E. Michael Kahoe, destroyed a document about the shooting.

Kahoe had worked under Potts and the document may shed light on Potts'
role in the affair. Potts has said he never approved new rules allowing the
agents in Idaho to shoot on sight, but two FBI officials said he did.

Freeh said he would soon name a successor to Potts.

His decision to remove Potts came before next's week congressional
hearings into the Waco raid, which ended in a fire that killed cult leader
David Koresh and about 80 followers.

The FBI tried to end the siege by using tanks to fire tear gas into the
compound. The FBI says Koresh's followers set the building on fire rather
than surrender while the cult members say the tanks knocked over lanterns, starting the blaze.

The Waco incident was not mentioned by Freeh in announcing Potts'
transfer.

The Idaho and Waco sieges have fueled the anti-government views of
far-right militia groups and Republicans in Congress also have seized upon
the issue.

Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania who seeks the 1996
presidential nomination, said of the Potts transfer, ''I think that this is a
very wise move.''

Specter said on the Senate floor that he still wants to hold hearings on
the incident and added that a cloud remains over Potts, the FBI and the
Justice Department until questions about Ruby Ridge are answered.

Idaho's two Republican senators, Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne, both
welcomed the removal of Potts from the number two job, although Kempthorne questioned putting the agent in charge of training. Both senators called for hearings into Ruby Ridge.

Timothy McVeigh, one of two suspects charged in the Oklahoma City
bombing, has been described as having been upset over the Waco raid. The Oklahoma City bombing occurred on the second anniversary of the Waco raid.

Freeh said that Potts, who had been supervising the Oklahoma City bombing probe, ``fully supports this transfer for both personal reasons as well as his desire to best serve the FBI.''

Freeh had pushed hard to make Potts, a longtime associate, his deputy
director. Their association dated back to the late 1980s, when Freeh served as prosecutor and Potts as chief investigator in solving the mail bombings that killed a federal appeals court judge in Alabama and a civil rights attorney in Georgia.

Reut15:37 07-14-95

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