New Offer Reportedly Asks Noriega to Exit for 1 Year

President Reagan has personally approved a new U.S. offer to Gen. Manuel A. Noriega that would require the Panamanian strongman to leave his country for a year but apparently would allow him to retain effective control of the government, Administration sources said Monday.

The sources said that Noriega is expected to accept or reject the proposal within the next day or two.

The offer came as Jose Sorzano, the top Latin American expert on the White House National Security Council staff, resigned--reportedly to protest the Administration’s handling of the negotiations with Noriega.

The latest Administration plan, which was widely criticized by members of Congress who learned of it, calls for Noriega to step down as commander of the Panama Defense Forces in mid-August and to leave Panama for at least a year.

Condition of Exile

At the same time, prosecutors would drop drug-trafficking charges pending against Noriega in Florida and would agree not to file them again as long as the general remained in exile. But the charges could be brought again if Noriega returned to Panama.

According to the sources, Noriega’s hand-picked president, Manuel Solis Palma, would be allowed to retain the office, although the United States would continue to recognize Eric A. Delvalle, whom Noriega deposed in February, as the rightful chief of state.

The plan apparently would permit Noriega’s allies to retain control of the armed forces, although one source said that the Panamanian legislature would be asked to pass a measure limiting the military chief to a single five-year term.

U.S. Softening Terms

So far, Noriega has ridiculed U.S. efforts to ease him out of power and has rejected a succession of U.S. proposals. American negotiators have softened the terms after each failure.

The latest proposals have been denounced by Panamanian opposition leaders who believe that Noriega will be allowed to continue to hold effective power. The plans also have been criticized in law enforcement circles and on Capitol Hill because the drug charges against Noriega would be dropped.

Michael G. Kozak, a State Department official, has been shuttling between Washington and Panama City, sounding out Noriega on various proposals. According to the sources, however, the latest plan has Reagan’s personal approval, which means that the deal would be final if Noriega accepts the terms.

The sources said that Charles J. Cooper, an assistant attorney general, and Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for Latin America, have been put in charge of the effort to complete the negotiations.

Details Unclear

It was not clear how the United States could continue to recognize Delvalle as president if it made a deal with Noriega allowing Solis to retain power. So far, Washington has insisted that Delvalle’s ouster, which Noriega engineered, was illegal.

Delvalle was elected vice president in Panama’s last election in 1984 on a ticket headed by Nicolas A. Barletta, an economist who was once a student of Secretary of State George P. Shultz. The Barletta-Delvalle campaign had Noriega’s tacit approval, and opposition figures accused the military chief of rigging the outcome in its favor.

Noriega forced Barletta’s resignation in 1985, elevating Delvalle to the presidency. Delvalle, apparently urged on by U.S. officials, attempted to fire Noriega last February. Instead, Noriega forced Delvalle out of office and directed the legislature to give the presidency to Solis.

The most vocal congressional opponents of the proposed deal were Republicans who feared that the agreement would make their party look soft on drug trafficking, an important election-year issue. The Senate will vote today on a resolution sponsored by Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) that condemns any deal that involves dropping the charges against Noriega.

Any such deal, the resolution says, “would send the wrong signal about the priority which the United States attaches to the war on drugs, would not further the prospects of restoring a non-corrupt, democratic government to Panama and would not serve the overall national security interests of the United States.”

At the National Security Council, meanwhile, Sorzano, 49, gave notice that he would leave in two weeks after only 15 months in his post as chief Latin American specialist.

‘Too Hard-Line’

Sorzano declined to comment on the reasons for his departure. The Washington Times reported Monday that he quit because he was “insulted” when his boss at the NSC, Deputy Director John Negroponte, called him “too hard-line” on the issue of U.S. aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. Sorzano was known to be unhappy about the congressional restrictions on food and humanitarian aid supplies to the Contras while peace negotiations have been under way.

Others said Monday, however, that what directly triggered Sorzano’s resignation was his judgment that the Administration had mishandled the Panama issue by trying unsuccessfully to use economic pressure to force Noriega out and then trying to cut a deal with him to leave.

“He really disapproves deeply of the deal they are trying to negotiate on Panama,” said a friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He felt it was bad for the United States and bad for Panama.”

Kirkpatrick Associate

A Cuban-American, Sorzano is a close associate of former U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, having served as her deputy at the world organization for four years and as a colleague in Georgetown University’s history department before that.

Kirkpatrick praised the “first-class job” Sorzano had done at the White House. “His departure is a really significant loss to the United States at a time when many elements of our Central American policy are disintegrating,” she said.

Sorzano’s resignation further reduces the ranks of what was known as the “Kirkpatrick Mafia” in the Administration. Of half a dozen people who once served in top posts on Kirkpatrick’s staff in New York, only Richard Schifter remains in office as assistant secretary of state for human rights.

Times staff writer Don Shannon also contributed to this story.