Speedy start to cease-fire talks likely

Press, 14 November 1987, Page 10

Speedy start to cease-fire talks likely

NZPA— ReuterWashington The surprise arrival of Nicaraguan Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo for talks with his country’s President, Daniel Ortega, and contra rebel leaders has raised hopes for a speedy start to cease-fire negotiations. Cardinal Obando, who arrived in Washington on Thursday night, was expected to receive formal cease-fire proposals from the United States-backed contras and Mr Ortega in separate meetings — a first step in his role as mediator in the indirect talks. The Cardinal was chosen last week by the contras and the Leftist Sandinista Government to act as an intermediary in the indirect cease-fire talks that are part of a peace plan signed by five Central American nations on August 7. “My purpose ... is to initiate a sounding-out (of the two sides) to see if it is possible to get a ceasefire between the Government in Nicaragua and the armed opposition,” he told reporters in Miami during a stopover on his way to Washington. Mr Ortega was scheduled to deliver his formal cease-fire proposal to the Cardinal at the Vatican Embassy, according to an aide to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Jim Wright, who will attend the meeting. A contra representative was to meet the Cardinal later to submit the rebel proposal, a spokesman for the contra leader, Adolfo Calero, told Reuters. The spokesman, Bosco Matamoros, said no time or place had yet been set and it was not clear which leader would attend the meeting. Most of the contra leaders, who had been meeting in Washington, left late on Thursday, including Mr Calero.

Before the Cardinal, a staunch critic of the Sandinista Government, can mediate between the two sides on a cease-fire in Nicaragua’s six-year civil

war, he must settle disputes over the location and other details of the talks.

The contras insist that the talks should take place in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. Mr Ortega has ruled that out and, at a news conference, also appeared to rule out other Central American countries as well.

Asked whether he would accept Costa Rica, whose President, Oscar Arias Sanchez, won the Nobel Peace Prize for forging the peace plan, Mr Ortega replied it would “work against the spirit of the accords.” He did not elaborate.

Washington would be a logical choice for Mr Ortega, who has sought talks directly with the Reagan Administration which he accuses of creating the United States-backed rebel forces.

Mr Arias has urged Mr Ortega to agree to Managua for the talks. Congressional sources said the Cardinal may end up shuttling between two locations, possibly Managua and San Jose, the Costa Rican capital. Mr Ortega, in Washington to attend the annual meeting of the Organisation of American States, held intensive meetings with members of Congress on Thursday. Emerging from twohour Senate talks,. Mr Ortega told reporters, “We still have to overcome several obstacles but we are making progress. There is a will to work for peace.” He did not say what the obstacles were. The Honduran Foreign Minister, Carlos Lopez Contreras, in a speech to the 0.A.5., said his country would prevent the contras from using its border areas for military purposes. Mr Contreras also said he was willing to ask the United States to withdraw its troops from Honduras if the Sandinista Government asked Soviet-bloc advisers ; to f ‘' leave' 'Nicaragua.