Nicaraguan Foes Map Cease-Fire Zones

Sandinista and Contra officials reached partial agreement Tuesday on how to separate their armies during a 2-month cease-fire and suspended negotiations for a week.

After two days of talks, negotiators announced that they have mapped five sparsely populated zones into which rebel troops will gather and from which the Sandinista army will withdraw.

They agreed to meet again at this southern border post next Tuesday to define two more zones and decide such issues as how to deliver non-lethal aid to the rebels and how to police cease-fire violations.

The inconclusive outcome of the talks was the first snag in the preliminary peace agreement signed here by Sandinista and Contra leaders last Wednesday. It appeared to reflect unease in the Contra ranks over terms of the accord to end 6 years of fighting.

As a result, the formal cease-fire that was to begin this Friday with the first movement of troops will be delayed.

But both sides pledged to prolong the truce in force since March 21 until they agree on all technical aspects of disengagement.

Contra leaders took responsibility for breaking off the negotiations. They explained that they could not continue meeting because there is no more hotel space nearby for the rest of the Holy Week holiday. They were lodged until Tuesday in Liberia, Costa Rica, an hour’s drive away.

But rebel spokesmen said they also need more time to dispel worry and confusion about the accord among their fighters in the field.

“These are very sensitive negotiations,” Aristides Sanchez, leader of the Contra delegation, said. “We have to guarantee the physical and moral integrity of our combatants. This has to be done in a delicate way, little by little.”

Maj. Gen. Joaquin Cuadra, chief Sandinista negotiator, said he was disappointed but not overly concerned by lack of an agreement.

‘We Took a Step Forward’

“We advanced, not at the pace we wanted,” he said, “but the important thing is we took a step forward.”

“The Contras wanted to show they are interested in advancing the talks, but not too fast,” said a source close to the talks. “If they agree too quickly, it could add to the confusion of their men in the field. They still have a lot of explaining to do.”

The five cease-fire zones agreed upon Tuesday cover 6,900 square miles, nearly 14% of Nicaragua.

A participant said the negotiations over the zones were difficult and achieved progress only in the final two hours.

He said the Sandinistas “reacted violently” when the rebels insisted, after their original demand was rejected, that the zones include several major towns.

“What they have never gained on the battlefield, they wanted to gain at the negotiating table,” the informant said.

Details of the five zones agreed upon were not made public. A map shown to reporters indicated they include no towns but border on several. All are accessible by road to help speed the arrival of food, clothing and other non-lethal supplies that the rebels are allowed to receive through “neutral organizations.”

Three zones are adjacent to the Honduran border--one north of the towns of Quilali and Murra in Nueva Segovia province, another north of San Jose de Bocay in Jinotega province and the other north of Puerto Cabezas on the Caribbean coast.

Another zone is south of Puerto Cabezas along the same coast. The fifth zone lies south of Nueva Guinea in southern Nicaragua.

Regardless of when the formal truce takes effect, Contras outside these zones will have until April 15 to move into them. Those who do not will risk being declared “renegades” and shot by the army.

Under last week’s preliminary peace accord, rebel troops must remain in the cease-fire zones through May, while Contra civilian leaders, in political talks to start April 6 in Managua, negotiate the terms of their disarmament.