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Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya talks to US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon - Source: Reuters -
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Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and de facto rulers in
power since a June coup returned to the negotiating table under US
pressure, with a pro-Zelaya radio station saying a deal may be
close.
But Zelaya told the station, Radio Globo, it was too soon to know
what the caretaker government's position would be on the key issue
of whether he can be temporarily reinstated.
"We are at the same point as where we started, with 95% agreed on,"
Zelaya said.
"There is absolutely no approval yet of anything."
Zelaya appealed for calm after some protesters were hurt in
protests backing the leftist, who was toppled in a coup on June 28
and exiled.
He snuck back into the country last month.
A team led by US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon and Dan
Restrepo, Washington's special assistant for Western Hemisphere
affairs, is in Tegucigalpa for a last-ditch effort to broker a
resolution.
Zelaya, holed up in the Brazilian Embassy surrounded by troops,
pulled out of the most recent talks last week.
"Time is running out. We only have a month. We need an agreement as
soon as possible," Shannon said after the US officials met with
both sides.
Radio Globo said a deal, including an agreement on letting Zelaya
serve the end of his term to January, was close to completion and
awaiting approval by the country's Congress.
Zelaya adviser Rasel Tome said the talks were advancing. "We are in
the course, in the moments of history, hoping (an accord) will be
signed. We are going well," he said.
Vilma Morales, an envoy for de facto leader Roberto Micheletti,
noted the Supreme Court - which ordered the coup - would also need
to be consulted on any accord.
Reinstatement still a thorn
The coffee-producing Central American country has been
diplomatically isolated since Zelaya was rousted at dawn by
soldiers and flown to exile on a military plane.
He had angered many in Honduras by warming up to socialist
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Critics also alleged he was seeking backing to extend
presidential term limits, something he denies.
Critics of Micheletti, who was appointed by Congress after the
coup, say he wants to stay in power until a presidential election
scheduled for November 29.
In a sign the United States is stepping up its involvement, Shannon
sat in on Thursday's talks and said his delegation would stay an
extra day to help Hondurans broker a deal.
As negotiators met behind closed doors, Micheletti repeated his
hard-line stance against Zelaya's return, telling reporters, "I
don't think reinstatement is a possibility."
Police in riot gear and firing tear gas broke up a march by
hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters near the hotel where the talks
were being held, witnesses said.
Television images showed police hitting a man with a stick and
the Red Cross said five demonstrators had minor injuries.
Human rights groups have documented major abuses by the de facto
government and say free and fair elections will be impossible after
Micheletti curbed civil liberties and temporarily shut opposition
news outlets last month.
US President Barack Obama has been criticized for leaving Latin
American governments and the Organization of American States to
take the lead in resolving the crisis.
Last week's collapse of talks prompted Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton to dispatch the US delegation.
Micheletti, whose leadership is not recognized abroad, has lodged
legal proceedings against Brazil at the International Court of
Justice in The Hague.
He wants Brazil ordered to stop sheltering Zelaya in its
embassy.
Brazil disputed the move, saying an illegitimate government was not
eligible to file a lawsuit with the court.
