Salvador and Rebels Wrap Up Peace Agreement

Salvadoran government and rebel leaders Tuesday put the final touches on a peace agreement that chops the military in half, disarms the insurgents and all but ensures the end of a bloody 12-year civil war.

After the permanent cease-fire goes into effect Feb. 1, rebel negotiator Shafik Handal said, the government’s five counterinsurgency battalions will be eliminated immediately, and the rebels’ military structure phased out by Oct. 31.

Handal said the militarized police forces, now under the command of the Defense Ministry, will be disbanded. A civilian police force, open to both former soldiers and rebels, will spring up in the place of the paramilitary units, long feared for intimidation and murder of suspected leftists.

Over two years, the U.S.-backed government forces will be cut from 63,175 soldiers to 31,000, Handal said.

“The negotiations are over,” said Handal, of the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, as he left U.N. headquarters after all-night negotiations. “We know this will be cause for celebration by the Salvadoran people.”

The Salvadoran government and the rebels are scheduled to sign a peace accord Thursday in Mexico City to end the conflict, which has cost more than 75,000 lives.

Negotiators reached a broad agreement on New Year’s Eve, minutes before Javier Perez de Cuellar ended his 10 years as secretary general. His successor, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, will attend the signing in Mexico.

But that agreement left out many sticky details, such as demobilization of the rebels, reduction of the Salvadoran military and land reform. Those issues were settled in long deliberations at U.N. headquarters over the last week.

Tuesday’s document, more than 100 pages long, was signed by Alvaro de Soto, the chief U.N. mediator; four representatives of the Salvadoran government, and five rebel leaders.

De Soto, who has guided the talks for nearly two years, said the marathon negotiations were “profoundly satisfactory.” The talks also touched on rebuilding the Central American nation. De Soto has said that nearly $1 billion is needed to repair war damage.