Christmas Truce Possible: Arias

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez, calling intransigence and dogma the main obstacles to Central American peace, said today a cease-fire in the region’s guerrilla wars could still be reached by Christmas.

During a stopover on his way to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize for authoring a regional peace plan signed by the five Central American presidents last August, Arias told reporters he remained confident it could work. His comments followed a weekend in which mediated peace talks between Nicaraguan rebels and the Sandinista government broke down and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said no cease-fire would be possible until Honduras stopped aiding the U.S.-backed Contras.