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Honduras interim govt declines to negotiate with OAS

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-02 14:11

Supporters of Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya stage a rally in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, July 1, 2009. Honduras' President Zelaya said he will postpone his return to Honduras 72 hours to the weekend, instead of Thursday, as originally planned. [Xinhua]

TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras' post-coup government will not negotiate with the OAS and allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to office, the interim government said Wednesday.

"Anyone who has violated the law cannot be reinstated," the newly-appointed foreign minister Enrique Ortez Colindrez told the media.

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"Honduras' sovereignty cannot be negotiated with the Organization of American States (OAS), nor with anyone," said the minister, who was named by the acting president Roberto Micheletti immediately after the coup.

Ortez said "international commitments signed with Honduras are being respected."

On Tuesday, the OAS gave Honduras an ultimate 72 hours to reinstall Zelaya or face expulsion from the bloc.

Honduras' neighboring countries have closed their borders with it, and the Central American Integration System barred Honduras from receiving disbursements or new loans from its bank, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.

Zelaya plans to return to Honduras at the weekend accompanied by Jose Miguel Insulza, the OAS secretary general.

The president was driven out of Honduras on Sunday after hooded and heavily armed soldiers seized him from bed at the presidential palace and forced him into exile in Costa Rica.

A new government was appointed hours later by a legislative session that began with the reading of a letter, allegedly by Zelaya, saying Zelaya had resigned on health grounds.

A large number of international organizations, including the United Nations and the OAS, have denounced the coup. Many governments, particularly those in Latin America, insist they would not recognize the post-coup Honduran leadership.