SAPOA, Nicaragua (AP)—Sandinista and Contra rebel negotiators said Tuesday they have exchanged proposals, which agree on major points, for extended cease-fire accompanied by amnesty and release of political prisoners.

They began three days of meetings Monday at this town on the Costa Rican border, trying to end a civil war that President Daniel Ortega says has cost 26,500 lives since 1981. Both sides suspended battlefield action during the talks.

Gen. Humberto Ortega, the Nicaraguan defense minister, and his Sandinista delegation proposed a three-day truce that could be extended to three months during which the U.S.-supported Contras would lay down their weapons and join a “national reconciliation dialogue.”

Victor Hugo Tinoco, the deputy foreign minister, announced the proposal at a news conference. For every rebel who stops fighting, he said, the leftist government will free one of the 3,300 political prisoners it considers eligible for release.

Most prisoners are former members of the National Guard, as the army was called under the late President Anastasio Somoza, whom the Sandinista revolution overthrew in July, 1979.

Contrary to previous Sandinista demands, Tinoco said rebels who put down their arms would be free from prosecution without applying for amnesty and could take part in Nicaraguan political life.

They would be permitted to operate uncensored newspapers, magazines and radio stations, but television would remain a government monopoly.

Contra proposals, as outlined to reporters by spokesman Bosco Matamoros, call for a 45-day truce beginning on Good Friday, April 1. Rebel fighters would move to cease-fire zones and a permanent truce would be negotiated by Sandinista and Contra leaders.

Matamoros said the Contras demand “total and unconditional amnesty” when the cease-fire begins, so anyone who had left Nicaragua for political reasons could “rejoin the political, economic and social process without any conditions.”

Contra leaders also want to join a national dialogue between the Sandinistas and their internal political opponents.

An agreement was signed Monday night by President Emand.

It says the parties pledge to discuss “internal political issues exclusively with the government” and the “government will discuss exclusively with rebel groups” all matters involving a cease-fire.

According to Matamoros, other Contra demands include immediate and total amnesty, freedom for all political prisoners and an end to mandatory military service.

Tinoco said: “The moment at which a cease-fire is signed, whether it be for 30, 60 or 90 days, according to what the counter-revolution wants, the leadership of the Nicaraguan Resistance (Contras) will be able to rejoin civic and political life, and even participate in the national dialogue that seeks a reconciliation of all Nicaraguans.”

Both sides propose international monitoring of the cease-fire. The Sandinistas would have a 15-member international commission including representatives of the United Nations, Organization of American States, Contadora and its support group.

Contadora (made up of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Panama) began trying to negotiate peace in Central America several years ago. The support group is Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Peru.

The battlefield truce appeared on Tuesday to be holding.