U.S. and Saudis Agree to Fund Afghan Rebels : Diplomacy: The Administration wants to pressure Moscow into helping defuse regional conflicts.

In a concerted effort to pressure the Soviet Union to help defuse regional conflicts, the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to provide $715 million to fund CIA covert aid to the moujahedeen resistance in Afghanistan, according to informed sources.

The aid, which will be used primarily to provide military equipment and supplies over the next three months, is designed to nearly match an estimated $250 million a month in assistance that U.S. intelligence says the Soviet Union is providing the Kabul regime.

The Bush Administration already has received congressional approval to provide $280 million in U.S. aid to the Afghan insurgents through February. The remainder will be provided by Saudi Arabia to help finance the U.S.-orchestrated effort, the sources said.

The aid reflects the Administration’s desire to send a strong message to Moscow in advance of next month’s superpower summit in Malta that the United States has no plans to back down on foreign policy issues because of sweeping political changes within the East Bloc.

In addition to Moscow’s increasing assistance to the government of Afghan President Najibullah, the Soviets and the Cubans have provided new aid, directly and indirectly, to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, the sources said.

Administration sources said that the Sandinistas, in turn, have provided new assistance to the rebels in El Salvador, apparently to help the guerrillas mount the bloody offensive that has claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians in recent days.

“Whatever is happening inside the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe, they (the Soviets) are not lowering their profile in regional conflicts,” said one source close to the issue. “The Administration feels it has to be in a position to keep up the pressure.”

Both the United States and Saudi Arabia have assisted the moujahedeen resistance movement since shortly after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979. The Saudis primarily have helped finance the CIA-directed covert aid operation.

But U.S. assistance to the rebels was cut back dramatically after the Soviet troop withdrawal in February, and diplomatic sources said the new effort represents a major challenge to the Soviets on the eve of the summit.

Last week, Secretary of State James A. Baker III said the Administration is concerned about continuing Soviet involvement in regional conflicts. He indicated that U.S. technical economic assistance to the Soviets would be contingent upon Moscow’s future cooperation in reducing regional hostilities.

“We’re disappointed in reality versus rhetoric in terms of regional conflict,” Baker said. “We’re not making all the progress there that we’d like.”

Administration sources have said that the civil war in Afghanistan, as well as other regional conflicts, will be given high priority in Malta. “Some sparks may fly in Malta” over those conflicts, predicted a source involved in the debate on new aid to Afghanistan.

The CIA-directed assistance appears to be primarily a reaction to Soviet moves rather than a result of a broad strategy review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, a step urged by Congress in the aftermath of the Soviet troop withdrawal.

A senior Administration official said the United States is uncertain why the Soviet Union, after pledging publicly to help coordinate an end to regional conflicts, instead seems to be raising the stakes in Afghanistan and Central America.

“They’re still pumping billions into Afghanistan; what they’ve given Cuba is certainly not insignificant, and what they’re doing in Nicaragua costs,” said a senior Administration official. “Why are they doing that? I can give you some guesses, but I have no idea whether they make sense.”

The Soviets simply may be “as uncoordinated as the rest of us,” the official said.

A second possibility, he said, is that “in order to move broadly on reforms, (Soviet leader Mikhail S.) Gorbachev has got to give something on the other side.”

U.S. officials suggested that the aid will help the moujahedeen launch a new offensive before winter weather slows fighting in Afghanistan.

The Saudis have contributed to the Afghan resistance because the moujahedeen are considered Islamic brethren and Riyadh is concerned about Soviet encroachment in the region.

Ironically, the new assistance comes at a time when U.S. intelligence assessments are sharply divided on the strength and potential longevity of Najibullah’s government.

A recent CIA assessment predicts that a new offensive could topple the regime by the end of February. But a Pentagon intelligence report suggests that the moujahedeen are losing the edge in the conflict and that “Najibullah is not history,” said an official who has seen both assessments.

Despite U.S. frustration with the Soviets, State Department officials acknowledge that Moscow was helpful in pressuring Syria and Iraq, which supply arms to Christian and Muslim militias in Lebanon, to facilitate a recent agreement on a peace formula for Lebanon.

Times staff writer Doyle McManus contributed to this story.