CIA DENIES MURDER COVERUP

Central Intelligence Agencyofficials denied charges by Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) that the agency witheld information about the deaths of an American innkeeper and a Guatemalan rebel leader married to a U.S. citizen. But the agency said nothing about the congressman's most explosive allegation. In a letter delivered to President Clinton on Wednesday night, Torricelli, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said that the two were murdered by a Guatemalan colonel who was on the CIA payroll. "When there is an investigation about the death of an American citizen, withholding information about those responsible and circumstances about that murder is not bad policy, it's a crime," said Torricelli in demanding a formal investigation. At issue are the deaths of innkeeper Michael Devine in 1990 and Efrain Bamaca Velasquez in 1992. Bamaca's American widow, Jennifer Harbury, staged a 32-day hunger strike in Guatemala City last fall and began a fast in front of the White House 12 days ago.