News In Brief

Lugar urges Reagan to seek letup by Nicaraguan rebels

The incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged President Reagan Thursday to reverse course and pressure the rebels in Nicaragua to halt efforts to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government there.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana proposed a diplomatic formula in which the Nicaraguan leaders would pledge, in exchange, a cutoff of aid to guerrillas in surrounding nations, particularly El Salvador, and agree ''not to establish a Soviet base.''