6 Contra Leaders Coming to L.A. to Lobby Reagan : Will Voice Concerns on Thursday

President Reagan has invited the leadership of Nicaragua’s contra rebels to Los Angeles to give “his personal assurances” of commitment to their cause, the White House said today.

Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, confirming a disclosure Wednesday by contra official Alfredo Cesar of plans for such a meeting, said Reagan will meet with the entire six-member directorate of the Nicaraguan opposition next Thursday.

Fitzwater, briefing reporters as Reagan vacationed at his nearby mountaintop ranch, said the meeting was arranged in part, but not solely, because of the contras’ complaints that they had been poorly consulted by the White House in connection with recent Central American peace initiatives.

Some Urgency to Session

He said there was some urgency to the session, which likely will be held in Reagan’s hotel suite in Los Angeles, because “a lot of things have happened in the last two weeks.”

Contra figures have voiced concern about the Administration’s commitment to their cause and about statements by the Administration that have sent conflicting signals about its intentions.

“Make no mistake. We want to demonstrate to conservative leaders, to the (contra) directorate, to the nation, our commitment,” Fitzwater said.

Asked whether the U.S. government would be paying for the flights of the contra directors from Washington to Los Angeles, the spokesman said, “I don’t know how they are (coming). But I hope we’re paying for it.”

Fitzwater also said he saw nothing improper in Reagan holding a high-profile, although private, meeting with contra leaders. The peace plan submitted jointly by Reagan and House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) contemplated a low Administration profile on the question of seeking further military assistance for the rebels.

Won’t Desert Contras

The Reagan-Wright plan set a Sept. 30 deadline, the end of the current budget year, for the leftist Sandinista regime in Managua to demonstrate a willingness to institute the kinds of reforms that could lead to a cease-fire.

But Reagan himself, and several of his top aides, have said that the Administration will not desert the contras, and the President indicated in his weekly radio address last Saturday that support for the contras must continue until a peace plan and democratization have been implemented.

“I would say that they’re going (to Los Angeles) to discuss the status of the peace plans,” Fitzwater said of the contra directors. He was referring to the Reagan-Wright plan and to a rival plan, signed by the leaders of five Central American nations including Nicaragua, which envisions a Nov. 7 deadline for the kind of change that could lead to a cessation of hostilities in Nicaragua.

One purpose of the meeting, Fitzwater said, “is to update them” on the progress of the various peace initiatives. But at the same time, he added, “there have been concerns about their status as we go through this peace process.”

Personal Assurances

He said Reagan “wants to give his personal assurances” to the rebel leaders.

Among the contra figures Reagan will see is Col. Enrique Bermudez, a onetime officer in the late dictator Anastasio Somoza’s national guard, who is commander of the rebels’ northern front.

Asked whether he thought it proper for Reagan to meet with a top contra military officer at a time when the peace option is being explored, Fitzwater said the President wanted to “get an update on the military situation, and where the resistance stands.”

He said the meeting will also be attended by White House chief of staff Howard H. Baker Jr., National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and Elliot Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs.