Honduras crisis talks resume after stalemate

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Talks to end the Honduran political crisis were bogged down Sunday over the key issue between both sides: ousted President Manuel Zelaya's return to fill the remaining months of his term.

While Zelaya's negotiators said they agree in principle to a proposed compromise from Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, the government that deposed Zelaya refused to budge on its insistence that he would be arrested and prosecuted if he returns.

The negotiating team Sunday guaranteed only that he would have "due process."

Unless the interim government backs down, Zelaya has vowed to return home within days to reclaim the presidency — an action that some say could set off a civil war.

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is trying to broker a solution, has urged patience from Zelaya and flexibility from the interim government, which has ruled since the military whisked Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint on June 28.

The delegation of interim President Roberto Micheletti on Sunday endorsed several of Arias' proposals, including a government of national reconciliation, early elections and removing the president's power over the military ahead of the vote.

But it rejected Arias' key proposals restoring Zelaya to the head the government and granting amnesty to all involved.

Instead, the interim government offered to create a truth commission to "let the Honduran people and the international community see all the acts that led to the current situation," according to letter signed by interim Foreign Relations Secretary Carlos Lopez.

After entering Arias' home Sunday, representatives from both sides came out to speak to reporters and accused each other of stifling the negotiations.

Arturo Corrales, a member of the delegation for the interim government, said Zelaya is refusing to renounce his plan to hold a referendum on retooling the constitution, which was the spark that launched the coup after the Supreme Court, military and Congress all objected to the vote.

Aristides Mejia, former defense minister and Zelaya's representative, denied that.

"We agree with the first point in Arias' plan, which is to reinstate Zelaya, and we have said that we're willing to discuss all the other points," including the referendum, Mejia said.