Reagan Reportedly Authorizes New Action : Covert U.S. Anti-Noriega Plan Told

President Reagan has signed an order authorizing new, covert action designed to oust Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega from power, government sources said Tuesday.

The order, which the sources said was signed in recent weeks, signals a renewed effort by the Administration to drive Gen. Noriega from office after previous efforts to negotiate his departure failed.

Officials declined to describe what the operation would entail. It would be carried out by U.S. intelligence services.

While refusing to disclose any details of the plan, one source said it is designed to increase psychological pressure on the Panamanian leader to step down. The approach does not include specific plans for military or paramilitary action, the source said.

Kidnaping of foreign leaders is forbidden under executive order.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Reagan had spoken by telephone with deposed President Eric A. Delvalle, whom Noriega ousted but whom Washington continues to recognize, to inform him of the plan. The conversation took place July 15 while Delvalle was receiving medical treatment in New York, the source said.

A congressional source confirmed that Reagan had also consulted with Senate Intelligence Committee members before initiating the action.

Another congressional source said Reagan briefed selected members of Congress on the plan about a week ago.

Noriega has been indicted by two U.S. grand juries on drug-trafficking and related charges. Asked if the action might be linked to an effort to underscore Republicans’ anti-drug efforts during the campaign season, the source said, “You could make a case for it (political motives), or you could say it is business as usual” in the campaign against Noriega.

The move comes only a week after Noriega’s name and the United States’ futile efforts to oust him were mentioned frequently by top Democratic Party officials at their convention in Atlanta. Presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis and others repeatedly declared that they would not negotiate with accused drug dealers.

Roman Popadiuk, deputy White House press secretary, refused to comment on the report Tuesday, saying the White House would not discuss intelligence matters.

The order for the covert operation came in the form of an official “finding,” a document required by law before such intelligence missions may be undertaken. The finding states the nature and purpose of the operation.

Earlier Talks Failed

The presidential order comes two months after extensive negotiations between top Panamanian government representatives and State Department officials abruptly collapsed as they seemed near to producing an agreement on Noriega’s departure.

In an angry statement May 25, Secretary of State George P. Shultz announced that Noriega had balked at a deal that would have required him to step down in August in exchange for dismissal of American drug-trafficking charges against him and allowing his handpicked president, Manuel Solis Palma, to remain in office.

Since then, the Reagan Administration has taken no other publicly announced steps against the Noriega regime, contending that it would use previously implemented economic sanctions to continue the pressure on the military leader.

The State Department has also attempted to further isolate the Panamanian government in urging other Central American nations to press for Noriega to resign.

While U.S. representatives were conducting the controversial negotiations with Noriega during the spring, State Department officials proposed launching a covert action to undermine his hold on power. However, Pentagon officials successfully blocked that approach, maintaining that it could cause an anti-American backlash in the region.

It could not be determined whether the order that Reagan signed was related to this earlier, abandoned effort.

Juan B. Sosa, Panama’s ambassador to the United States, who remains loyal to the Delvalle government, said Tuesday night that he had heard nothing about the order for covert action.

Sosa said that in recent months, diplomatic initiatives led by Guatemala, Spain and Venezuela aimed at bringing an end to Panama’s government crisis have all failed.

“The situation in Panama is that the economy continues to deteriorate, that Noriega continues to have a close grip on the country; there is no sign that he is going to let the opposition media reopen. . . ,” Sosa said. “The people are not going into the streets, because they’re scared.”