APwa 12/15 1455 Rajneesh Conspiracy By BRIAN S. AKRE Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Or

APwa 12/15 1455 Rajneesh Conspiracy

   By BRIAN S. AKRE Associated Press Writer

   PORTLAND,  Ore.  (AP)  --  A lawyer for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
claims the federal government poisoned the Indian guru in 1985 as
part of a conspiracy to force him out of the United States.

   Swami Prem Niren, who  served  as  Rajneesh's  chief  attorney
during  the rise and fall of the Rajneeshpuram commune in central
Oregon, said Monday that Rajneesh believes  he  was  poisoned  in
late 1985 while he was in an Oklahoma City jail.

   Rajneesh, 56, recently has been ill, and doctors concluded his
symptoms were consistent with thallium poisoning, Niren said in a
telephone interview.    However,  he said tests found no trace of
the rare, poisonous element in Rajneesh.

   Veet Mano, director of the  Rajneesh  Press  Services  in  Los
Angeles,  charged  in  a  news  release  received  Monday  by The
Associated Press that "the United States government conspired  to
murder Bhagwan  Shree  Rajneesh."  Niren said, however, there was
no evidence of that.

   "That is an unfortunate phrase," he said. "It's one  of  those
things.  PR people say things different than lawyers do."

   Rajneesh  now  lives  in  Poona, India, where his movement was
based before he moved to a remote, 64,000-acre  Oregon  ranch  in
1981.   He  was deported in November 1985 after he pleaded guilty
to  immigration  fraud  in  a   plea   agreement   with   federal
prosecutors.

   Rajneesh  has  been  suffering  for  the  past two months from
nausea, fatigue, pain in his extremities and a lack of resistence
to infection, and was near death for a while, Niren said.

   An Indian health official  said  recently  that  Rajneesh  had
AIDS, but his disciples say a test proved the claim was false.

   Rajneesh  first experienced poisoning symptoms after a meal in
a jail in Oklahoma City, leading him to believe he was  poisoned,
Niren said.    Niren said he does not believe jailers in Oklahoma
City were responsible for the alleged poisoning.   He  speculated
the CIA was involved.

   "Of course, years after the event I don't expect anyone in the
government  or  anywhere  else  to  come  forward  and  say, `I'm
responsible for it,"' Niren said.

   Rajneesh, who was arrested in Charlotte, N.C., in October 1985
while allegedly trying  to  flee  the  United  States,  was  held
overnight  in  Oklahoma  City while being taken back to Oregon to
face criminal charges.

   Niren, who said he is writing a  book  about  his  experiences
with  the Rajneesh movement and the commune's legal battles, said
the government never had evidence linking Rajneesh to any crimes.

   Niren said he recommended Rajneesh  accept  the  plea  bargain
that  led  to his deportation because of concerns over the guru's
health.

   "Otherwise the government persecution would  continue  and  he
couldn't take it," he said. "They intended to persecute him until
he left or was broken."

   Charles  H.  Turner, the U.S. attorney who led the prosecution
of Rajneesh and several of  his  lieutenents,  dismissed  Niren's
allegations today.

   "It's  a  total  and complete fiction and you have to consider
the source," Turner said. "The man has no credibility."

   Turner noted that a federal judge determined that Rajneesh had
committed  crimes,  and  the  guru  was  represented  by   "three
extremely skilled  lawyers,"  including  Niren.    If  Niren  had
recommended Rajneesh plead guilty to a crime he did  not  commit,
the attorney could be disbarred, Turner said.

   Rajneesh  also  had access to any medical care he needed while
he was in jail, Turner added.

   "I stood next the man in court and there wasn't anything wrong
with him at all," he said.

   The commune  disbanded  after  Rajneesh's  departure  and  the
property remains for sale.

   Rajneesh,   a   self-described   "rich  man's  guru,"  teaches
meditation as a means to enlightenment.

   Niren, also known as Philip J. Toelkes, said he traveled after
the  commune  broke  up  and  has  been  practicing  law  in  San
Francisco.