4 Nations Sign Afghan Pact on Soviet Pullout : Shultz Sees a Model for Cooperation on Third World Conflicts; Arms Flow Likely to Continue

Afghanistan and Pakistan, joined by the United States and the Soviet Union, signed a fragile agreement Thursday calling for withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan but allowing the superpowers, according to the U.S. interpretation, to continue pouring arms into the eight-year-old conflict.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who signed the accords for the United States, told reporters that the agreement is a historic one that could become a model for cooperation between Washington and Moscow in settling other Third World conflicts.

Nevertheless, Shultz said, the United States will not stop supplying weapons to the anti-Communist moujahedeen guerrillas in Afghanistan unless Moscow ends its military aid to the government of Afghan President Najibullah.

Measured Response

He said the United States will “meet restraint with restraint” in the event Moscow stops sending arms to the government forces. But as long as Soviet arms continue to reach the army, he declared, “the moujahedeen may be sure that the United States will continue to support them.”

Leaders of the moujahedeen have rejected the Geneva agreement and vowed to ignore it.

In Washington, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater also said that the United States “will support the moujahedeen as the Soviets support the Kabul government.”

Fitzwater said President Reagan has encouraged the rebels to “fight on if the opposition remains, if the fight is there to maintain.”

The key aspect of the accords, from the U.S. point of view, is the withdrawal of the 115,000 Soviet troops from the country. Soviet forces have been in Afghanistan since December, 1979.

“The faithful implementation of the withdrawal commitments . . . will do much to improve the atmosphere for our bilateral relations and for the resolution of other regional conflicts,” Shultz said.

After the signing ceremony, Shultz met for about 90 minutes with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze to discuss issues that will be on the agenda next week when Shultz visits Moscow to continue planning for the upcoming summit meeting between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Shultz said it is still possible for the superpowers to reach agreement before the summit on a treaty to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons. But he said the remaining issues are very difficult, implying that any agreement is a long shot at best.

The Afghanistan accords seem to bar all outside interference in the war-torn nation. But before the signing, the United States sent a formal statement to Moscow outlining its position on military aid for the rebels.

Says Arms Will Slow Peace

Shevardnadze agreed that the accords do not specifically address the question of arms support. But he said that U.S. weapons shipments to the resistance would make it more difficult to bring peace to Afghanistan.

“I said openly and honestly to the secretary that (the Americans) have no basis to supply arms to (the moujahedeen), “ Shevardnadze told a news conference. “If they do, no doubt it will complicate the process of a political settlement.”

He drew a distinction between Soviet aid to what he called “the legitimate government of Afghanistan” and U.S. support for the guerrillas. He said Soviet assistance is legal under international law because it is covered by a treaty while the U.S. aid is not.

Shultz said the United States does not recognize the Kabul regime as a legitimate government. Asked why the United States maintains an embassy in Kabul if it does not recognize the government, he said the mission represents U.S. interests and collects information. But he added, “It does not meet with or have official contact with the present regime.”

Site of Indochina Treaty

At a brief ceremony in the same chamber where France agreed to pull out of Indochina in 1954, Shultz, Shevardnadze, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil and Pakistan’s acting foreign minister, Zain Noorani, signed four interlocking documents that call for the Soviet Union to begin withdrawing its troops by May 15.

The accord requires Moscow to send home at least half the troops within three months and to complete the withdrawal within nine months. Shevardnadze has said that the Soviet Union will complete the withdrawal before the end of this year.

The agreement also calls for Afghanistan to permit about 5 million refugees to return home and take part in the political life of the country. It further provides for a U.N. military observer force to police the agreement.

U.S. officials said Shultz had planned to announce the U.S. interpretation regarding aid to the moujahedeen during the signing ceremony but was given no opportunity to do so. U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar was the only participant to speak during the ceremony. He said: “I am confident that the signatories of these agreements will abide fully by the letter and spirit of the text and that they will implement them in good faith.”

Bars Guerrillas Bases

The accord itself, which was made public after the signing, seems to prohibit Pakistan from continuing its role as host to guerrilla camps and as the channel for U.S. arms shipments to the moujahedeen.

One document, signed only by Afghanistan and Pakistan, requires both nations to “refrain from the promotion, encouragement or support, direct or indirect, of rebellious or secessionist activities against the other . . . (and) to prevent within its territory the training, equipping, financing and recruitment of mercenaries from whatever origin for the purpose of hostile activities against the other.”

Shevardnadze said those provisions will prevent Pakistan from cooperating in U.S. assistance to the guerrillas.

Shultz said, “We have the right symmetrically to continue our relationship with those that we have supported. We are confident we will have the ability to deliver on that as needed.”

U.N. Undersecretary General Diego Cordovez, who mediated the Geneva accords, will try to bring the Kabul government and the various rebel factions together to form a transition regime. However, that task appears to be even more difficult than the negotiations that produced the agreement signed Thursday.

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang, in Washington, contributed to this story.