COMBAT IN PANAMA : U.S. Widens Hunt for Noriega to Mountains of Western Panama : Tactics: The general is ‘turning out to be a lot tougher than we anticipated,’ a U.S. official concedes.

U.S. officials, surprised by tenacious resistance from supporters of Manuel A. Noriega, said Friday that they are widening the hunt for the deposed dictator to his home area in Panama’s western mountains.

The move will be the first use of U.S. troops outside the capital and the area around the Panama Canal. It raises the prospect of a rural guerrilla campaign that may take longer than the Bush Administration originally planned for its Panamanian war.

“Noriega is turning out to be a lot tougher than we anticipated,” a senior Administration official acknowledged. “But then, he has always surprised his detractors.”

U.S. military commanders are dispatching troops from Panama City to the western province of Chiriqui. Their mission is to disarm pro-Noriega units of the Panama Defense Forces, seize weapons and ammunition that Noriega reportedly has hidden there and pursue the hunt for the elusive general, who has evaded capture for three days.

Officials said they do not know whether Noriega is hiding in the capital or has slipped into the countryside. But if he has headed for the hills, Chiriqui would be a logical place. Its forested mountains run up to the country’s western border with Costa Rica.

“Noriega was military commander in that area for a long time,” said a former U.S. ambassador to Panama, William J. Jorden. “He has gone out of his way to maintain loyalty and keep people happy up there. . . . He considers that area his home territory and knows it well.”

Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Kelly, the U.S. Army’s deputy chief of staff, made a point of targeting the area in a briefing for reporters Friday.

“We do plan to move out to the west of Panama City,” he said, pointing to Chiriqui on a map. “. . . We’ll have some objectives in that area, and I’m obviously not going to say what they are because we don’t want to help anybody get ready. But I think over the next couple of days, we’ll be hoping to see progress there.”

Kelly pointed out two main targets in Chiriqui: the town of David, the province’s capital and site of a major Defense Forces garrison, and La Escondida, one of Noriega’s luxurious ranches.

Kelly said units of the 7th Infantry Division that are already in Panama may be used for the task, as well as other units that may arrive from the United States. The 7th Infantry Division is based at Ft. Ord in northern California.

U.S. officials continued to express confidence that Noriega, at the age of 55 and after years of reported drug use, is not up to a long guerrilla fight in the jungle. “I don’t think he’s capable of existing as an insurgent for a prolonged period,” said one. “He’s used to plush living. He loves comfort too much.”

But they acknowledged that they have been surprised by the persistence of some PDF units, as well as by the disorganized “Dignity Battalion” militias, in opposing the U.S. invasion.

Reports reaching Washington on Friday indicated that pro-Noriega units still are roaming freely across much of western Panama and that pro-Noriega officers still control David and several other key points.

“We are with (Noriega) until the last bullet,” a PDF officer in Chitre, 100 miles southwest of Panama City, told the Associated Press. “We are ready for the gringos. We are waiting for orders.”

If Noriega or any of his allies can rally those troops, the United States could face the unwelcome prospect of a rural campaign that might require even more troops.

“The real issue is this,” a senior official said. “He’s got some good soldiers. The key question now is whether they can arouse enough animosity against the Americans to sustain local support, wherever he is.”

U.S. officials, not surprisingly, are betting against Noriega.

“In the end, I think there will be very few people who will be prepared to throw down their lives for the sake of a guy being able to drive around in a Mercedes,” the official said.

“Noriega . . . doesn’t have a payroll, doesn’t have a bunch of thugs that are out pushing people around, isn’t skimming money off the top anymore, isn’t doing those things, and I don’t think has a very long half-life,” Lt. Gen. Kelly declared. “I think he will be captured, one way or another, and I hope it’s very soon. It could be two minutes from now, by the way; we just don’t know.”