News that James Earl Ray, convicted of murdering Martin Luther King, Jr., was near death in a prison hospital has renewed speculation about possible government involvement in the assassination, with King's widow, among others, asking for a new trial. But the important -- and still unanswered -- questions connected with that crime cannot be resolved without a look at the now-sealed FBI files detailing the agency's illegal campaign against King, a campaign that certainly helped create a climate that made Ray's action possible. PNS correspondent Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "Beyond OJ: Race. Sex and Class Lessons for America." His e-mail address is <ehutchi344@aol.com>.

It was hard to believe. Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. sitting in the witness box in a Memphis courtroom, demanding a new trial for James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing her husband.

Her concern, she said, was "to determine the truth" about the assassination. But the King family, and the truth, would be better served by getting access to now-sealed FBI files than by retrying Ray.

News that Ray was near death in a prison hospital has kindled new interest in the case, especially as William Pepper, Ray's attorney, has seized the occasion to push his claim that Ray is a patsy, and that the government orchestrated King's killing.

Pepper has played the conspiracy card hard. He claims the fatal shot was fired by a man named Raul and/or another man, and swears he has affidavits from the conspirators. He convinced a Memphis judge to recommend new tests to determine whether the rifle prosecutors claim Ray used is really the murder weapon.

Ray, for his part, has claimed he was framed and withdrawn his guilty plea.

All this is familiar enough, and could be dismissed as the desperate thrashing of a dying man trying to salve his conscience and draw attention, aided by a publicity-wise attorney.

But if one considers the King's murder and its aftermath in light of the FBI's decade-long war on King and his movement, different questions appear. The "who" question is most likely answered already. There is strong evidence that Ray pulled the trigger, his fingerprints were on the alleged murder weapon, he was at the scene of the crime -- and he confessed. All this is a matter of public record. As for his protestations of innocence, Ray has told different people different things about the murder over the years.

The "why" question, in contrast, can only be answered by information that remains largely hidden from public view.

It is known that, with the blessings of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and the Justice Department relentlessly tried to tie King to the Communist Party. This was not just Hoover acting on his own obsessions, it was a war against the black movement. And Hoover decided the cheap way to win that war was to discredit the movement's most respected figure.

Hoover assigned the job to assistant FBI director William Sullivan, who branded King "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation." In his book, "My Thirty Years in Hoover's FBI," Sullivan said "There were no fewer than 14 men with high-ranking positions who not only never objected to the investigation of King, but because of Hoover's pressure were vigorously behind it."

Sullivan coordinated the "Seat of Government" committee, mostly special agents from Washington DC and Atlanta offices, who deluged King with wiretaps, physical surveillance, poison pen letters, and threats, and leaked smear stories to the media.

Conspiracy theorists and Pepper are convinced the government didn't stop there. Hoover claimed the FBI could not find a "single angle" to indicate any conspiracy, and there is no proof of any government involvement. This is not surprising as the FBI officials who directed the COINTELPRO campaign against King, and the agent who played a major role in the Atlanta activities, were also involved in every phase of the assassination investigation.

But the ferocity of the FBI's secret war leaves room for doubt. A look at their files, and those of the House Select Committee on Assassination which are also sealed, might unlock a number of puzzles:

* how Ray, with no visible means of support, was able to travel freely for 14 months after he escaped from a Missouri prison, going from coast to coast and eventually to London, where he was captured.

* why Ray's possible link with white supremacist groups was never probed (at least, there is no record of such an investigation)

* why the government did not impanel a grand jury to look into Ray's escape and travels, but relied almost exclusively on FBI field interviews.

* who arranged to have the security detail assigned to guard King removed the evening before the assassination.

A new trial for Ray probably would not uncover any hard proof about who killed King or ordered the killing. An independent probe, however, might allay some of the lingering suspicions that government agencies have not told the complete truth about King's murder.

Those who want the truth should start a public campaign aimed at getting access to the records. If that fails, then Clinton, who likes to invoke the King legacy, should be pressed to appoint an independent counsel.

None of this would absolve the FBI and other government agencies for their disgraceful, destructive and illegal campaign against King. The climate of suspicion they created made it possible for Ray to murder King, and ultimately they must accept some of the blame for that.