Cubans Continue Deportation Fight

ATLANTA-Cuban inmates fighting deportation torched buildings and reportedly seized 75 hostages in a lunchtime riot at Atlanta's federal prison yesterday, two days after a similar uprising in Louisiana where prisoners continued to hold captives.

Attorney General Edwin Meese III offered yesterday to impose a moratorium on the return of Cubans denied residency because of mental instability or past crimes. The offer to review each case individually had been relayed to both prisons in expectation that all hostages "will be safely released without delay," Meese said in Washington.

Rep. Pat Swindall, R-Ga., said the Justice Department told him one Atlanta inmate had died of gunshot wounds, but FBI Agent David Kelsey said the agency had no comment.

At a negotiating session inside the prison attended by a television reporter yesterday evening, four inmates asked for assurances there would be no retaliation for the uprising.

WSB-TV reporter Marc Pickard, who said he was invited to assure that the terms of any agreement would be public, said he was told that the inmates were holding 75 hostages, including two suffering from unspecified medical problems.

Prison officials were seeking the release of those two hostages as a good faith gesture, said Pickard, who added that the prisoners were "having trouble believing" Meese's offer.

At least 11 people were injured in Atlanta, including five inmates who were shot, hospital officials said.

The prison was not considered safe enough to allow firefighters in the compound until about 7:30 p.m., when six fire trucks lined up to go inside. By that time, the fire had spread from the prison industry building but officials released no details on the extent of the blaze.

W.H. Hamer, Atlanta fire chief, said his workers would try to keep a food building, which was full of combustible materials, from catching fire.

The state Department of Transportation brought in floodlights to aid work through the night.

Gary Leshaw, an attorney who has represented several of the Cubans, said before Meese's announcement that negotiations were being conducted in person and by walkietalkie.

The inmates who seized control of the federal detention center near Oakdale, La., threatened on yesterday to kill their 28 hostages if authorities stormed the facility.

Those prisoners, who had at first demanded to remain in the United States and not be prosecuted for the riot and hostagetaking, were demanding outright freedom on yesterday, said Warden J.R. Johnson.

Thirty-one people, including 15 detention center employees, had been treated for injuries since the inmates' riot Saturday night.

Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said he met briefly with the Cubans to relay Meese's offer, but added, "I do not think it will end tonight." Breaux put the number of hostages at 28.