Alfonsin Sees Reagan, Outlines New Plan for Falklands Accord

Argentine President Raul Alfonsin outlined a new plan Monday to end hostilities with Britain in the Falkland Islands dispute, and President Reagan reaffirmed his hopes for a negotiated settlement, White House officials said.

In a brief statement issued after Reagan’s one-hour meeting with Alfonsin, press spokesman Larry Speakes said the two leaders discussed the issue of the Falklands, the South Atlantic island group Argentina calls the Malvinas and which it still claims despite a 1982 war it lost to the British.

On Monday, the Argentines proposed a formal cessation of hostilities with Britain as a conciliatory gesture before beginning negotiations again over the largely barren islands.

A Foreign Ministry statement in Buenos Aires said the permanent cease-fire would be offered in exchange for an end to the 150-mile British “protection zone” around the islands from which Argentine ships and aircraft have been barred.

The communique was apparently timed for Alfonsin’s meeting with Reagan.

“The President listened with interest to the proposal Argentina made to Great Britain this morning and reiterated his hopes for a peaceful negotiated solution to this issue,” Speakes said.

He added that Alfonsin spoke about his recent trips to Moscow and Havana and that Reagan briefed his visitor on his talks with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at the Reykjavik summit conference last month.

The two men also reviewed the regional political situation, discussing Argentina’s economic situation, the development of democracy in Latin America and efforts to combat drug trafficking, Speakes said.

Among those attending the talks were Vice President George Bush, national security adviser John M. Poindexter, White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead and Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs.

Alfonsin was accompanied by Foreign Minister Dante Caputo, Finance Minister Juan Sourrille and U.S. Ambassador Enrique Candidoti.

The statement issued in Buenos Aires restated Argentina’s position on future talks on the Falklands, asking for overall negotiations to settle the dispute with an agenda that includes the issue of sovereignty. Britain has rejected talks if sovereignty is on the agenda.

The government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been pressing Argentina for a formal end to hostilities since the Argentine invasion force in the Falklands surrendered to counterattacking British units in June 1982, after a 74-day conflict.

Argentina accepted a truce to halt the fighting, but it has so far rejected a formal declaration of a cessation of hostilities, as requested by Britain.