The Sunday Times, London, 21 March 1993 
 
 FBI BRINGS OUT SECRET ELECTRONIC WEAPONS AS WACO SIEGE DRAGS ON 
 
	Behind the glare of television cameras a silent, secret war
is being waged in Waco, Texas.  By day federal agents conduct
tortuous negotiations with David Koresh, the 33-year-old leader of
the Branch Davidian cult who claims to be the new Messiah.  By
night they mount a sophisticated surveillance operation. 

 	It is an electronic war to prepare for the unthinkable: a new
armed assault on the compound should the cult disciples decide to
commit mass suicide or stage a violent breakout.  Three weeks after
a bloody shoot-out that left four federal agents dead, Koresh and
his followers appear unhurried.  The only hopeful indication came
last week when Koresh said astrological events showed he was close
to receiving a sign from God. 
 
	The impasse has incensed the American authorities, still
smarting after their disastrous daylight assault on the ranch in
an attempt to arrest Koresh on arms charges.  At one stage William
Sessions, the FBI director, wanted to fly down to Texas to rally
his men but his aides argued it would only disrupt their strategy
to end a siege that has already outlasted the Alamo. 

	Instead of seeking confrontation, the FBI decided to apply 
stealth.  Using the latest technology, security forces have been
quietly penetrating the compound to build up a complete picture of
what is going on inside. 
 
	Aircraft flying overhead can pick up conversations between
cult members and pinpoint their position using infra-red devices
that lock on to hear sources.  The walls, air vents and chimneys
are all places where tiny fibre-optic microphones and cameras have
been inserted to relay audio and visual images back to the control
centre. 
 
	"They need to know exactly who is in which room, what morale
is like, what they are saying to each other, where the guards are,"
said an SAS veteran who was involved in the storming of the Iranian
embassy in London in 1980.  "If you have to go in, you don't want
any surprises." 
 
	Two weeks ago, the FBI requested that special surveillance
plane fly down to Waco.  The multi-sensor aircraft is made by
Pilatus Britten-Norman on the aisle of WIght and is a conversion
of their civilian Islander.  Equipped with a forward looking infra-
red radar and a low-light television camera, it can pick up and
track targets in all weather. 
 
	Other equipment has been adapted from the hospital operating
theatre.  Fibre-optic cables which can be inserted into walls and
down chimneys are identical to the cameras used to explore
patients' arteries and organs.  At Waco, they relay a full-colour
picture of a whole room from a lens measuring no more than an 
eighth of an inch. 
 
	Even before the raid last month, the compound had been
infiltrated by undercover agents worried by the growing arsenal of
weapons.   While the agents were inside, normal telephones are
believed to have been replaced by converted sets which double as
microphones to relay all conversation inside a room. 
 
	But the technology is not all on the government side.  The
cult is believed to have powerful thermal-imaging night sights in
its armoury, which includes machineguns and anti-tank weapons.  To
counter that threat, federal agents have mounted powerful arc
lights, ready to blind those inside. 
 
	The siege has become a focal point for the world's special
forces eager to see the latest equipment being applied in a real
crisis.  OBserver teams from the American Delta Force and British
SAS have already visited Waco. 
 
	Last week negotiations continued without any sign of progress. 
At one stage, it seemed 30 of the 105 cult members remaining in the
compound might be about to leave and three buses were driven up to
the gates.  Then Koresh broke off negotiations saying he had to go
to the lavatory.  He did not return. 
 
	The federal agents hope that an assault will not be necessary. 
They are putting their faith in the motto of the New York police
hostage rescue team: "We Bore Them to Death."  But unless Koresh
gets his sign from God it could be a long wait: the cult has enough
food and water to last at least a year. 
