Talks on Noriega Future Reportedly Planned

Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega has agreed to send a representative to a meeting with Latin leaders in Costa Rica, apparently to discuss proposals for his departure from Panama, U.S. Administration sources said Sunday.

They said the meeting was called by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez for today or Tuesday and that a representative of the Spanish government will attend.

Spain has offered to give Noriega safe haven if he gives up power in Panama.

NBC News reported that Gen. Noriega himself will attend the meeting and that Latin leaders believe that they can work out an arrangement for Noriega to leave Panama.

But an Administration official said he understood that Noriega has agreed only to sending a representative to the meeting.

President Reagan on Friday dismissed an offer by the Dominican Republic to give Noriega asylum, saying “that’s not far enough.”

Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams said Sunday that he still favors Spain’s asylum offer “because it’s far away.”

“The way to end this crisis is to get him out of the country,” Abrams said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Abrams also said the United States has the right to arrest Noriega on drug trafficking charges but would not say how seriously the idea is being considered.

Federal grand juries in Florida have indicted Noriega on charges of conspiring with Colombian dealers to export drugs to the United States.