Elite Unit of Contras Refuses to Surrender Weapons : Nicaragua: Accord is ignored as rebels begin armed patrols of their disarmament zone.

With a defiant shout of “No!” an elite unit of anti-Sandinista rebels Wednesday refused to give up its weapons even though the Sandinista government they fought to overthrow had already peacefully surrendered control of Nicaragua’s government.

Under an accord signed April 18, the 9,000-strong Contra army was to begin disarming on Wednesday, with the first 500-member unit turning over its weapons at 3 p.m., three hours after Violeta Barrios de Chamorro took the oath as Nicaragua’s new president.

But, instead of giving up their arms to a U.N. detachment, the Contra unit began operating like an occupying army, sending heavily armed patrols throughout the 450-square-kilometer zone, one of seven set aside for the disarmament process.

Israel Galeano, the top rebel military commander, said that other troop leaders agreed with him in refusing to give up their arms.

Under the accord, the Contras have until June 10 to turn over all weapons and rejoin civilian society. Galeano, who uses the nom de guerre Comandante Franklin, said his forces will keep their weapons until the new government satisfies him that it has “a satisfactory economic and political program.”

His already-defiant attitude was further hardened Wednesday when he heard Chamorro announce in her inaugural speech that Sandinista Defense Minister Humberto Ortega will stay on temporarily as head of the army.

The ceremony arranged by Galeano was pure theater.

When the U.N. officials arrived to begin receiving Contra weapons, they found the 500 uniformed rebel troops lined up in ranks on a weed-cluttered hillside.

With Nicaraguan and Contra flags flying overhead, rebel leaders introduced a series of speakers. Former Contra adviser Roberto Ferrey argued for compliance with the agreement. Then came representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, the Organization of American States and local residents, all saying that disarmament was the start of a process to guarantee peace.

But, in what was clearly an orchestrated response, about six Contra soldiers asked a series of questions indicating opposition to the cease-fire agreement and the surrender of their arms.

Finally, Galeano, carrying a silver-plated M-1 carbine, began exhorting the troops on why they should keep their rifles.

“The only form of safety we have is the rifle,” he said. “My responsibility as your chief is the same as the captain of a ship. Just as the captain is the last to leave a ship, I will be the last to give up my rifle.”

At that point, an aide to Galeano grabbed the megaphone the speakers had used and asked: “Will anyone give his rifle?”

“No!” the soldiers shouted in unison.

“We have not fought eight years of war to come here just to give up,” Galeano said. “We are not the army of any party, nor the army of the privileged, nor the army of the oligarchy.”

Earlier in the day, when asked if he would ever disarm, Galeano said: “If I do or not depends on the (new) government. I can’t ask a fighter whose safety depends on his rifle to give up that rifle for a set of promises. Promises are promises, but only reality counts and guarantees don’t count.”

Asked if he lacked confidence in the Chamorro government, Galeano and several aides laughed.

“If I had confidence, I’d be in Managua today,” he said.

The 30-year-old military leader said it is Chamorro’s responsibility to satisfy him that the necessary economic, political and military reforms have been made.

“I have an idea of what the government’s program should be,” he said in an interview. “But I won’t say what it is. It’s the government’s responsibility to satisfy us. Until then, we don’t have to do anything.”

Galeano maintained that the April 18 agreement, which he neither helped negotiate nor signed, was voluntary and only “the beginning of a process that will reach peace.”

Asked if this meant he would resume the fighting, he replied:

“We will fight if there is a reason. For now, we speak of peace, but I am prepared for anything.”

Whether Galeano’s position is a bluff is uncertain, as is the ability of his troops to maintain a lengthy war.

Kenneth Kelly, an Irish army officer attached to the U.N. force, said in an interview that it was his impression that the rebels’ weapons are old and in poor shape and that “the Contras want to disarm.”

Asked about this, Galeano retorted: “We have all the equipment we need . . . and my forces are integrated and unified in agreeing not to disarm.”

Indeed, a two-day tour of Contra positions in Jinotega province, 80 miles north of Managua, indicated that the 3,000 soldiers that Galeano says are in the area are fully armed with AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, an extensive radio network and other equipment.

The area appears to have many civilian Contra supporters who are providing food and even horses and mules to the rebels.

Nevertheless, military experts said that without U.S. aid, the rebels cannot maintain themselves for long.

“Oh, it may be that some units will stay in the hills after June 10,” said one European army officer. “But they will be brigands and legitimate targets for the national army.”