April 8, 1982

President Reagan decided today to send Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. to London and Buenos Aires to sound out those two Governments on ways of avoiding a military clash over the Falkland Islands. The decision was made early this morning before Mr. Reagan left for Jamaica and the start of his vacation in the Caribbean. Mr. Haig had been scheduled to accompany Mr. Reagan, but instead Deputy Secretary Walter J. Stoessel Jr. will represent the State Department. The United States has avoided taking sides in the Falklands sovreignty dispute, hoping to create an atmosphere favorable to diplomatic efforts. France, West Germany, Belgium and Austria today banned all sales of arms and military equipment to Argentina in a show of political support for Britain. The Netherlands and Switzerland have already imposed similar sanctions. (Page A12.)

''We would much prefer a peaceful settlement. We will do all we can to get one.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today accused a Seattle accountant of using illegally obtained advance knowledge that the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation planned to buy the Santa Fe International Corporation. The complaint said that the accountant, Gary L. Martin, acting on the illegally obtained inside information, earned $1.1 million last September on an investment of only $54,000 in Santa Fe stock and options. Although the commission did not specifically identify the source of Mr. Martin's information, it did note in great detail that the defendant had performed accounting and other financial services for Stanley B. McDonald, an outside director of Sante Fe. Mr. McDonald was not named as a defendant. There were no similar references to other persons for whom Mr. Martin had performed services. At the request of the commission, Judge John C. Coughenour of United States District Court for the Western District of Washington immediately froze the $1.1 million that the agency said had been realized.

The recession is not over and there is no sign yet of any recovery, the Commerce Department's top economist said. The assessment, by Robert G. Dederick, was one of the most pessimistic so far by the Reagan Administration. He said the jobless rate would continue to rise and by the end of 1982 could exceed 9 percent. (Page D1.) International Japanese semiconductor makers are voluntarily curbing exports in response to American pressure, according to Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige. The action by the Japanese, still under study in Washington, comes as the department is deciding whether the U.S. semiconductor industry needs protection. (D1.)

Four former senior Government officials urged the United States and its European allies today to consider a pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in Europe. To compensate, they recommended the strengthening of the West's conventional forces on the continent. In a magazine article and a joint statement, the four contended that the buildup of nuclear arsenals, divisions in the Atlantic alliance and official contingency planning for fighting limited nuclear war now make it imperative for the Western powers to abandon their three-decade-old strategy of threatening to counter a conventional Soviet attack in Europe with nuclear weapons. ''Continuation of the present policy will add to the risk of nuclear war,'' said their joint statement, which was read to reporters by Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations.