WASHINGTON -- Latin American foreign ministers will ask Great Britain to lift its blockade around the Falkland Islands and the European Economic Community to end economic sanctions against Argentina, diplomatic sources said Friday.
The requests are contained in a four-part resolution, described by the diplomats as 'sensible and realistic,' which the Organization of American States will be asked to act on during a special session Monday.
Whether the United States will approve the resolution is not yet clear.
But the sources said Secretary of State Alexander Haig was not expected to head the U.S. delegation to the Monday's OAS 'Meeting of Consultation' so as not to prejudice his role of mediator between Britain and Argentina.
Instead, the American delegation will be headed by Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Enders.
The draft resolution, worked out during a luncheon meeting Friday hosted by Argentina's OAS ambassador, Raul Quijano, reportedly contains the following four points:
-Great Britain should abstain from any hostile act and, accordingly, lift the naval and air bloackade it has imposed around the Falkland Islands, known to Latin Americans as the Malvinas.
-The European Economic Community should end the economic sanctions it imposed on Argentina in support of Britain. The draft resolution considers the sanctions an act of aggression against an OAS member, Argentina.
-Argentina and Great Britain should abstain from any action that could adversely affect the current U.S.-led negotiation efforts, which should be carried out in a peaceful atmosphere.
-The Meeting of Consultation should be left open to monitor compliance with the above request and so that the OAS can carry out any other measures that circumstances might require.
The sources said, however, that last-minute serious developments could move the meeting to seek to apply Article 8 of the hemispheric treaty for mutual defense and assistance, which calls for sanctions against an 'agressor' ranging from the recall of ambassadors to the use of armed force.
Argentina last week invoked the accord, known as the Rio Treaty, after charging Britain with endangering 'the peace and security' of the Americas by dispatching a naval fleet to the Falklands in reponse to Argentina's invasion of the islands April 2.
To be approved, any OAS resolution must have the support of at least 14 of the Rio Treaty's 21 members. The OAS, headquartered in Washington, has 30 members, although not all have signed the Rio Treaty.
As of late Friday, 15 hemispheric foreign ministers confirmed they will be in Washington Monday for the special Falklands session. They are the foreign ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Those from Chile, El Salvador, Mexico and Trinidad-Tobago are expected to be represented by their ambassador to the OAS.
