Interim Honduras leader open to early vote

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' interim leader said he was open to early elections if it resolves an impasse with the world community, as a top diplomat headed to the Central American nation to demand he restore the president ousted by a coup.

With time running out on a Saturday deadline by the Organization of American States to return President Manuel Zelaya to power, OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza was to arrive in Honduras Friday to push for his reinstatement.

Raising fears of possible clashes Friday, approximately 2,000 Zelaya supporters gathered at a university in Tegucigalpa and some said they would march to the presidential palace, where supporters of Roberto Micheletti's military-backed government were planning to assemble.

Insulza said he will meet with leaders of Honduras' Supreme Court and Congress — institutions that approved Sunday's coup — "basically to clarify exactly what our position is."

But he has said he will not meet with members of Micheletti's government to avoid legitimizing it. It was unclear if Insulza would meet with U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens during the visit.

Micheletti said Insulza would be welcome in Honduras, and "If he wants to talk with me, I'll receive him gladly."

Asked later by a reporter if he would be willing to move up presidential elections from their scheduled date of Nov. 29, Micheletti said the idea was acceptable to him as long as it is done within the framework of the law.

"I have no problem or objection to this, if it will solve these problems," Micheletti said, though he did not mention any date and neither Zelaya nor any international body has formally proposed that.

Micheletti argues that Honduras' military acted legally — on orders of Congress and the Supreme Court — when it raided Zelaya's house amid the rattle of gunfire and deported him, still in his nightshirt. He has shown little willingness to bend to demands by the OAS, the United Nations, Washington and other countries that he restore Zelaya.

He said he fears violence if Zelaya returns to Honduras, as he has vowed to do this weekend accompanied by the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, among other figures. He has also invited Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu to accompany him.

"For the peace of the country I would prefer that he did not come, because I do not want one drop of blood shed by any Honduran," Micheletti said.

Insulza said he will do everything he can in Honduras on Friday, but added that he believes "it will be very hard to turn things around in a couple of days."