Contras Seek Delay in Peace Talks

The Contras on Saturday accused President Daniel Ortega’s government of breaking a cease-fire accord and asked for postponement of political negotiations scheduled to start here Wednesday on a permanent peace accord between the Sandinista regime and its internal and external opposition.

Spokeswoman Marta Sacasa said in Miami that the U.S.-backed Contras want the talks put off until April 12.

“We have seen several unfulfilled requirements on their part, and . . . we had our logistical problems as well,” she said.

“We think a six-day delay will allow the government time to fulfill the accords” and permit truce negotiators to finish working out details of the rebels’ movement into designated zones, Sacasa said. Negotiators met for two days last week and are slated to meet again Tuesday in the southern Nicaragua border post of Sapoa.

The Sapoa talks are aimed mainly at defining zones into which rebel troops will gather while the larger issue of a permanent peace accord is negotiated. Because those talks were not finished last week, a formal, 60-day cease-fire that was to have begun Friday was delayed, but both sides pledged to prolong an informal truce that has been in force since March 21.

The government issued a statement saying it viewed with concern the Contras’ bid to put off the start of talks on a permanent peace.

“(The Contras) are failing to comply with the calendar, and this is counterproductive,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.