Quayle hints contra reprieve // May be kept going indefinitely, he says

WASHINGTON Vice President Dan Quayle said Monday it may benecessary to keep the Nicaraguan contras alive indefinitely as acohesive force in case the Sandinista government fails to completepromised reforms.

In the administration's first comprehensive response to aregional plan to disband the contras, Quayle said President Bushstrongly supports continuing aid to them and permitting them toremain deployed in Honduras "until they can return voluntarily totheir homeland into safe and democratic conditions."

In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars national conventionin Las Vegas, Quayle said:

"I can't tell you how long that process is likely to take, …