The New York Post
August 31, 1999
 
 
FALN CREW NO  INNOCENTS: REPORT

                  By MURRAY WEISS and
                  DEBORAH ORIN

                 A secret FBI report links a cadre of the FALN
                 terrorists President Clinton wants to free to a
                 spate of bombings - including a deadly explosion
                 that killed a Mobil Oil executive, The Post has
                 learned.

                 The eight-page, single-spaced analysis - prepared
                 in 1983 by the bureau's office in Chicago, where
                 the FALN was headquartered - provides stark
                 evidence to counter Clinton's claim that his 16
                 clemency-eligible terrorists have no ties to
                 violence and death.

                 The FBI report discloses that:

                 *Many of the FALN terrorists offered clemency -
                 including Dylcia Pagan, the wife of FALN master
                 bombmaker William Morales - were linked to
                 bomb factories in the Midwest, New York and
                 New Jersey during the height of the FALN's
                 deadly reign of terror.

                 *Two of them, Ida Luz Rodriguez and Oscar
                 Lopez-Rivera, were also tied to FALN chieftain
                 Carlos Alberto Torres, and his wife, Marie
                 Haydee Torres, when the couple operated a
                 bomb-making safe house in Jersey City, N.J.,
                 suspected in the killing of the Mobil Oil executive.

                 Mrs. Torres was ultimately convicted in the
                 bombing for her role in placing the "powerful
                 bomb" - an umbrella stuffed with explosives - on a
                 coat rack inside the corporate offices on East 42d
                 Street on Aug. 3, 1977.

                 *They were also "involved in the bomb factory
                 that detonated," leaving Morales maimed.
                 Morales' apartment was the suspected launching
                 pad for dozens of New York bombings, including
                 the 1975 blast at Fraunces Tavern that killed six
                 people.

                 *Nine of the FALN terrorists offered clemency,
                 including Morales' wife and Rodriguez's sister,
                 Alicia, were captured with the Torreses during a
                 botched armored-car heist at Northwestern
                 University in Evanston, Ill., on April 4, 1980. Also
                 arrested were Adolfo Matos, Carmen Valentin,
                 Luis Rosa, Dick Jimenez and Elizam Escobar.

                 "The members are totally dedicated and have
                 expressed a willingness to spend the remainders
                 of their lives in prison," the report said of an
                 organization responsible for more than 140
                 bombings.

                 "The group believes the liberation of Puerto Rico
                 is the paramount aspect of their lives," the report
                 concludes, warning that the FALN "takes
                 advantage of naive clergymen" and believes help
                 "in terms of finances, attorneys and supporters"
                 will come to them.

                 A years-long lobbying campaign, embraced by
                 several New York congressional members and
                 clergymen, has pressed Clinton to offer clemency
                 to the 16 members of FALN, which stands for
                 Armed Forces of National Liberation in Spanish.

                 None has signed affidavits denouncing their crimes
                 and violence as a means to political ends, as
                 required by the clemency order.

                 Carlos Alberto Torres was the 17th clemency
                 candidate, White House scandal spokesman Jim
                 Kennedy said, but was turned down because he
                 previously refused to denounce his criminal
                 activities.

                 In another development, Kennedy disputed a
                 Newsweek report that the Bureau of Prisons has
                 tapes of several FALN inmates saying they would
                 revert to violence if freed.

                 A parole-board spokesman declined comment,
                 but did not dispute the Newsweek story.
                 Kennedy insisted, "We have found no reason to
                 believe such tapes exist."

                 Newsweek said it stands behind its story.

                 Critics say Clinton is offering clemency to the
                 FALN members to help his wife's possible bid for
                 U.S. Senate in New York to win Puerto Rican
                 votes.

                 The FBI report traces dozens of FALN
                 bombings, starting with a "booby trap" explosive
                 device that maimed rookie cop Angel Poggi at
                 336 E. 110th St. on his first day in East Harlem
                 on Dec. 11, 1974.

                 The document then chronicles FALN violence,
                 including "explosive and incendiary device
                 attacks" ranging from Fraunces Tavern on Jan.
                 24, 1975, to the fatal Mobil headquarters blast.