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Honduras crisis talks divided over Zelaya return

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-19 13:50

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica: Prospects for a breakthrough in Honduras' political crisis looked dim on Sunday, with negotiators for deposed President Manuel Zelaya and coup leaders divided over his proposed reinstatement.

After nearly 10 hours of closed-door meetings on Saturday at the residence of Costa Rican President and mediator Oscar Arias, negotiators appeared no closer to an agreement. Talks were to continue on Sunday.

A supporter of Honduras ousted president Manuel Zelaya holds up a copy of "Resistance" newspaper showing a picture of Zelaya during a protest in Tegucigalpa July 18, 2009. [Agencies]

Envoys sent by Zelaya, who was ousted in a June 28 military coup, and interim leader Roberto Micheletti said the main stumbling block was Arias' proposal that Zelaya return to power and form a government that shared power with his rivals.

"At the moment there is no agreement on the points that are on the table," said Carlos Lopez, representing Micheletti, at the end of Saturday's talks.

The army toppled Zelaya and sent him on a plane out of the country last month on orders from the Supreme Court. Critics accused Zelaya of violating Honduras' constitution for seeking to extend presidential term limits.

Zelaya has upset Honduras' business elite and moderates in his own Liberal party by veering to the left after taking office in 2006 and allying himself with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States.

The uncertainty of the talks puts Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his role in ending political violence in Central America in the 1980s, in a tough spot as he tries to broker a solution to Central America's worst crisis since the end of the Cold War.

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The US government has largely kept quiet as the mediation process unfolded. But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke on Friday to her Brazilian and Colombian counterparts about Honduras, a senior US official said.

The United States is worried about Zelaya seeking to return to Honduras without an agreement with his rivals and is in touch with him to stress the importance of letting Arias try to mediate a solution, another senior US official said.

"We are indeed concerned about (Zelaya) going back," the second official said, adding that Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon "is in practically daily contact with him, urging him to allow (the) Arias process to play out."

From exile in Nicaragua, Zelaya has vowed to return home "one way or another", a move that could escalate the conflict and provoke violence.

Micheletti, a longtime foe who was appointed interim leader by Honduras' Congress after the coup, has threatened to arrest him if he returns and has put the army on high alert at key points across Honduras.

Zelaya has wide international support for his desire to return to power. The Organization of American States and the UN General Assembly have backed him and no foreign power has recognized the legitimacy of the interim government.

Arias on Saturday proposed Zelaya return to Honduras on July 24, according to a member of Zelaya's negotiating team.