Honduras ‘exercise’ ordered

Press, 18 March 1988, Page 1

Honduras ‘exercise’ ordered

NZPA-Reuter , ' Washington President Reagan ordered United States troops into Honduras yesterday, charging that Nicaraguan troops crossed the border to pursue rebels, but the White House said American forces would stay away from areas of hostility. |j At an unusual night-time briefing, a White House spokesman, Mr Marlin Fitzwater, said about 3200 troops would leave for Honduras today for “an emergency' deployment readiness exercise.”

“The brigade task force will not be deployed to any area of ongoing hostilities,” Mr Fitzwater said.

The exercise was intended as a signal “of the seriousness with which the United States views the current situation in the region.” The duration of the exercise had not been decided.

Mr Fitzwater said the Honduran President, Jose Azcona, had asked Washington for aid and denied that the Administration had put any pressure on President Azcona to make such a request. “When friends ask for our support, we should provide it,” Mr Fitzwater quoted President Reagan as saying. The United States said that up to 2600 Sandinista troops had crossed the Honduran border and were engaged in battles with the Contras, Nicaragua denied the charge and called for a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation of American States.

The White House charges were greeted with scepticism by leading Democrats In Congress, who noted that the rise in tensions came after President Reagan’s demand earlier this week for immediate congressional action on a new Contra aid plan. Honduras said last evening that several hundred Nicaraguan troops had invaded its territory. Though Honduras has newer offil daily acknowledged it hosts corwta rebel bases, the guerrillas are known to stage military actions against Nicaragua from Honduran territory. a Mr Fitzwater said the United States troops, drawn from airborne and infantry divisions, would be sent to Palmerola Air Force Base in Honduras.

Their deployment would be open-ended and he would not say under what conditions they would be brought home. “They are a deterrence by their presence,” he said.

The Nicaraguan President, Daniel Ortega, accused United States helicopters of aiding Contra rebels fighting Nicaraguan troops and warned that they risked being shot down. In I a nationally broadcast speech, President Ortega denied that Nicaraguan troops had entered Honduras but said there had been heavy fighting in the border region. President Reagan’s decision to send troops to Honduras was made as the Administration has urgently sought from Congress new Contra aid, which expired on February 29.