Washington worries the SA-7 missiles could fall into the hands of terrorists.

"We have said that these missiles are very dangerous for civil aviation," US charge d'affaires in Managua Peter Brennan said.

"What we would like is that in the long run, they not exist in this part of the world," he said.

After Managua's decision to retain 20 percent of the rockets, Brennan said "We are going to continue working on that."

Concerned by the whereabouts of missiles dating from the clash between leftist Sandinistas and US-backed contra rebels in the 1980s, the United States last month sent a mission to check President Enrique Bolanos' progress on his pledge to find and eliminate them.

The SA-7s were purchased by the Nicaraguan Sandinista government between 1979-1990 to battle the US-backed contras.

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