Reagan All but Throws in Towel on Contra Aid : Won’t Ask Congress to Release $16.5 Million in Weapons Before Session Ends

President Reagan on Friday all but ended his struggle for more military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, confirming that he will not ask Congress to release $16.5 million in stockpiled weapons for the Contras before the end of its session next week.

But Reagan, declaring that “their struggle is our struggle,” said in a prepared statement that he “would not hesitate” to call Congress into a special session later this year if the Contras are attacked by the Sandinista government during the congressional recess.

Week of Conferences

Over the last week, Administration officials have been conferring with members of Congress on whether Reagan should immediately seek a release of the weapons, which were conditionally approved and are stored in Honduras.

At his briefing Friday, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, “The conclusion was that we didn’t have the time--we may not have had the votes--and there was not a crying need” to seek the military assistance now.

With congressional resistance to more Contra aid still formidable, “this just isn’t the best time to be going to the Hill with another request,” Fitzwater said.

Barring unforeseen developments, that decision appears to end Reagan’s long quest for military support for the Contras, leaving any further efforts to his successor and the next Congress.

Bush Backs Policy

Vice President George Bush, the GOP presidential nominee, endorses Reagan’s Central American policy and might seek to resume efforts to arm the rebels. His Democratic opponent, Michael S. Dukakis, opposes such aid.

A spokesman for the Contras, Bosco Matamoros, complained that the situation leaves the rebels in a state of “a slow collapse.”

“We have faith in President Reagan’s commitment to our cause, but there is a grim reality,” he said. “The Sandinistas are hunting our forces like rabbits on the ground, and Congress has not provided us with the material to defend ourselves. You have given the Sandinistas a license to wipe us out, as long as they do it discreetly.”

Under military appropriations legislation approved last month, Congress provided $27 million in humanitarian aid to the Contras. But it froze $16.5 million in military aid, stipulating that two of three conditions must exist before it could be released.

Those conditions are unacceptable levels of Soviet aid to the Nicaraguan government, serious Sandinista violations of the Central American peace accord and Sandinista attacks on the Contras.

The Contras have asserted that the first two conditions have been met, and they have called on Reagan to formally ask Congress to release the aid. However, the White House apparently concluded that its chances of convincing Congress were slim.

Reassured of Support

In his statement, Reagan sought to reassure the Contras and their supporters that he had not abandoned them.

“America must stand with those who fight for freedom in Nicaragua as it has stood with the valiant freedom fighters in Afghanistan and Angola,” he said. “. . . Their struggle is our struggle, and together we can achieve democracy in Nicaragua.”

He said that if the Sandinistas attempt to “capitalize” on the lapse in U.S. military aid before Congress reconvenes in January, “they should know I would not hesitate to call the 100th Congress back into session to consider emergency assistance to the freedom fighters.”

House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), an opponent of Contra aid, said he doubts that Reagan would resort to such a move.

‘Political Football’

“I hope the President doesn’t try to grandstand and make a political football out of Central America,” he said. “. . . It’s a bit of show biz to come around after we have gone home. Surely he won’t do that.”

Matamoros said he does not expect the Sandinistas to mount a major attack on the rebel troops in the coming months, preferring instead to harass them in other ways.

“They’d be crazy to do that,” he said. “They’re getting the results they want already at a lower cost.”

Times staff writer Doyle McManus also contributed to this story.