U.S. Embassy Won’t Probe Linder Death : Considers On-Site Inquiry Too Perilous--Kin Arrive Today

MANAGUA, Nicaragua —  As the family of Benjamin Linder, the American the government says was killed by contra rebels, arrived in Nicaragua today, the U.S. Embassy said it is “too dangerous” to send out other Americans to investigate his death.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the 27-year-old American from Portland, Ore., on Tuesday remained unclear. The rebels said he was killed in a fire fight in northern Nicaragua between contras and Sandinista militiamen. Witnesses interviewed by the U.S. religious group Witness for Peace, which has volunteers in Nicaragua, said Linder and two Nicaraguans were “sitting on the ground writing notes” when they were attacked by contras with hand grenades.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Al Laun said today that no team from the mission will be sent to remote Jinotega province in northern Nicaragua, where Linder was killed, because it is “too dangerous.”

“No embassy people will go there,” he said. “If the contras want to tell us their side of the story, they will, but not here.”

Tearful Encounter

On Wednesday, another embassy spokesman, Alberto Fernandez, had said a team would be sent to the area “to ascertain the facts.”

Linder’s family arrived for a tearful encounter with Sandinista officials and said their son will be buried in Nicaragua.

“He worked here and he gave his life here, and he must be buried here. He belongs here,” the father, David Linder, of Portland, Ore., said at Sandino International Airport. “He wanted to make this a better place for people to live.”

When asked who killed his 27-year-old son, Linder responded:”Who killed Ben?Someone who paid someone who paid someone who paid someone and so on down the line to the President of the United States.”

A Nicaraguan government official said Linder’s family will meet with President Daniel Ortega, who will accompany the family from the capital to the northern city of Matagalpa, where the body was brought.

Friends, Other Relatives

Arriving in Managua with David Linder were his wife, Elizabeth, and their two children, John and Miriam. They were accompanied by people who appeared to be friends and other relatives.

It was an emotional moment for the family, whose flight had been delayed almost two hours in Guatemala. They were met at the bottom of the plane’s steps by Foreign Minister Miguel D’Escoto and his deputy, Victor Hugo Tinoco.

Elizabeth Linder and D’Escoto embraced, a gesture that was repeated by the other family members and Sandinista officials.

Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young flew in for the wake. Young, who opposes U.S. support of the contras, said Linder’s death may force Americans to re-examine their country’s policy toward Central America.

On Wednesday, the White House said Americans such as Linder understand the risks involved when they go abroad into areas of “guerrilla war.”