Leftist Rebels Call for Talks With Salvador

Salvadoran rebels said Tuesday they have proposed talks with the new rightist government to end El Salvador’s civil war and that the negotiations begin next week.

The Salvadoran government, meanwhile, announced a 48-hour truce. Col. Inocente Montano, the vice minister of defense, said the armed forces will observe a cease-fire Sept. 14-15 as part of the celebration marking Central America’s independence from Spain on Sept. 15, 1821.

The announcements followed a fierce battle in northeastern El Salvador in which at least 16 soldiers were killed. Armed forces spokesmen said the rebels also suffered “numerous casualties.”

The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, which represents five left-wing guerrilla groups fighting El Salvador’s U.S.-backed government, called for talks to be held in Mexico starting sometime between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14.

(In San Salvador, Communications Minister Mauricio Sandoval later said that a government commission will meet with the rebels, according to Reuters news agency. Sandoval said the meeting will take place “before Sept. 15.” He added that President Alfredo Cristiani on Thursday will name his commission as well as the date and location of the preliminary talks.)

The proposed negotiations would be the first between the two sides since Cristiani suggested talks at his inauguration June 1. The guerrillas agreed at that time, but the effort snagged on the mechanics of arranging the dialogue.

“We’re taking away practically all obstacles,” Ana Guadalupe Martinez, a rebel commander, said Tuesday at a news conference in Mexico City.