Reports Put Nicaraguans in Honduras

As President Reagan began lobbying senators on his request for $100 million for the contra rebels today, a senior Administration official said the United States has received initial reports of a large-scale Nicaraguan force crossing the border into Honduras.

The official, briefing reporters at the White House on condition he was not be identified, said efforts were under way to determine the size and nature of the operation.

But preliminary reports reaching the United States indicated that the attack was larger than any of more than 100 previous incursions, the official said.

Nicaraguan forces have crossed into Honduras before to attack bases of the rebels battling the Managua government.

The official noted that the Administration has argued throughout the contra aid debate that if military shipments to the rebels were delayed it would be an incentive for the Sandinistas to strike quickly at rebel bases to try to wipe out the contras before help arrives.

But he stressed that it was not apparent, based on the preliminary report, what the objective of the troop movement was.

Stressing that he was talking about initial, unconfirmed reports, the official said indications were that “well over 1,000 Nicaraguan troops” were involved in the operation said to have begun on Sunday.

The official spoke to reporters shortly after Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams briefed Reagan on his weekend visit to Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.

Reagan, meanwhile, was telephoning a number of senators to lobby for the contra aid measure, which comes up for a vote Wednesday or Thursday.

Senate Minority Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said he had been called by Reagan this morning, and “I indicated I felt we should develop a bipartisan approach, that this matter was too important for partisanship.”