Honduran Talks Snag on Proposal for Unity Govt

Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya gestures during a news conference in Managua, Friday, July...

Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya gestures during a news conference in Managua, Friday, July 17, 2009. Allies of ousted President Zelaya say U.S.-backed talks in Costa Rica this weekend may be the last chance to avert a clash, perhaps even civil war.(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

(AP)

Asked about the idea of having Zelaya return to Honduras as president with a reconciliation government, Honduras' interim Assistant Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado said: "Impossible."

"The reinstatement of Zelaya, as we have maintained and now repeat, is not negotiable ... there is no possibility of him returning to Honduras as president," Alvarado said.

Zelaya says any solution to the crisis must involve his return to power.

A Zelaya representative, Enrique Flores, said his side had accepted Arias' plan "in principle" but complained that Micheletti's government was balking at the key point: allowing Zelaya's return to power. He said that would kill the negotiations.

"We will declare the talks a failure" if there is no progress on that issue, Flores told The Associated Press. "If they don't accept the first point, the mediation has no purpose."

Zelaya's side said they accepted the plan in principle, and were ready to later discuss the points in detail.

Before Alvarado's sharp comments, a representative of Honduras' interim government said her delegation lacked the authority to accept most of Arias' proposals, since decisions on amnesty, changed election dates and permission for Zelaya to return despite warrants for his arrest needed the approval of Honduras' courts or Congress.

"It is up to Congress to grant amnesties, so we cannot commit to something that intrudes on the powers of other bodies," former Supreme Court President Vilma Morales told The Associated Press. "We cannot make commitments that ignore the jurisdiction of the electoral tribunal, and it is also up to Congress to discuss and legislate and issue a decree on moving up the elections."

The talks, which had the backing of the Obama administration, the Organization of American States and much of the world community, though some leftist leaders denounced them as a U.S.-backed trap for Zelaya, a wealthy rancher who moved to the left after being elected.