Powell said he and others had repeatedly raised the matter with Nicaraguan officials, who had been receptive but had not yet given any timetable for the destruction of the weapons, which Washington fears terrorists will use to shoot down civilian aircraft.

"We have felt strongly for a long period of time that the MANPADS in the Nicaraguan inventory should be destroyed," he said at a news conference with Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos.

MANPADS is the acronym for Man Portable Air Defense Systems, the destruction of which Washington has long lobbied for and successfully raised at a summit of Pacific Rim leaders last month in Thailand.

Since then, however, the issue has taken on new urgency for the United States, particularly after at least one such missile took down a US Chinook helicopter in Iraq (news - web sites) Sunday, killing 16 troops.

Nicaragua has nearly 2,000 SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles purchased from the former Soviet Union by the leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s during their civil war with US-funded right-wing insurgents.

Powell said Bolanos was well aware of Washington's concerns but stressed that although the Nicaraguan leader had offered assurances the missiles were under close guard, the United States did not think they added to the country's defense.

"I know that he ensures that these weapons are under tight control and are secured, but I do not believe they add any security to Nicaragua," Powell said.

"I think they are frankly a burden," he said. "They have to be maintained, they have to be secured, they are costing the Nicaraguan armed forces money. So I hope that they will be destoyed in the near future."

Bolanos has come up with a plan to at least reduce the number but only in connection with a regional Central American defense restructuring which is now being considered by Nicaragua's neighbors.

That plan could be in place by the end of 2004, Bolanos said, noting that all the countries in the region had reached consensus on some form of military downsizing as they are no longer threatening each other.

"They have now set up a timetable to be able to reach this balance at the end of 2004," he said.

"Then we will be able to present our reduced inventories. Among the Central American nations, we no longer need to have fear."

Powell agreed wholeheartedly, saying that the situation in the region now with democracy taking hold meant a Central American war "most unlikely."

He added that he would bring the issue up again Wednesday when he meets with Nicaraguan army chief Javier Carrion and Defense Minister Jose Guerra before heading on to Honduras.

In addition to the missile issue, Powell also thanked Bolanos for Nicaragua's contribution of sappers to Iraq stabilization efforts, praised his economic policies and said he was hopeful that a new US-Central America free-trade deal could be reached by the end of this year.

"Your sappers are doing a terrific job in Iraq and they will come back proud of what they have accomplished knowing that they have helped a nation in need," he said.

Some 115 Nicaraguan soldiers are currently in the region, as part of a force led by Spain responsible for parts of southern Iraq. A second group of 115 soldiers could be sent out, but officials have said their deployment depends on foreign assistance.

Neither Powell nor Bolanos mentioned any request for US assistance to pay for the second deployment.

Powell arrived in Managua -- the first sitting US secretary of state to make a solo trip to Nicaragua since 1992 -- from Panama City, where he and Bolanos had been among the dignataries attending ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of Panama's independence from Colombia.

Bolanos accompanied Powell back to his country from Panama on the secretary's plane, a gesture that prompted a Nicaraguan reporter to ask whether the United States was intending to send a specific signal.

Powell said Bolanos had flown back with him "because I offered him a ride, it was the fastest way to get from Panama City to Managua."

All rights reserved. � 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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