UN suspends Honduras polls support

World body halts assistance saying conditions for November polls “not favourable”.

honduras unrest
The streets of Tegucigalpa remain tense after street clashes and protests [AFP]

The standoff at the embassy continued late on Wednesday as the interim government announced an indefinite curfew in the capital Tegucigalpa after thousands of Zelaya supporters marched towards the Brazilian embassy in a third day of confrontations with the authorities.

At least one person has been reported killed and several wounded in the series of clashes between Zelaya supporters and security forces.

More than 100 people have been detained.

OAS delegation 

But on the diplomatic front, there appeared to be some progress on Wednesday as the military-backed government said it would receive an Organisation of American States (OAS) delegation aiming to establish dialogue between the de facto government and Zelaya.

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Zelaya supporters ‘mistreated’

The OAS mission was invited by the de facto foreign minister, the US state department said on Wednesday, an invite that came after Zelaya’s secret return to Tegucigalpa after nearly three months in exile.

Brazil and Venezuela have since led calls at the United Nations General Assembly in New York for Zelaya to be reinstated.

On Tuesday, the de facto Honduran government said it was willing to talk to Zelaya if he recognised the legality of November’s presidential elections.

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Manuel Zelaya continues reside inside the Brazilian embassy [AFP]

Roberto Micheletti, the man who replaced Zelaya, had repeatedly threatened to arrest Zelaya if he tried to return to Honduras.

He had also previously said he would not reopen negotiations with Zelaya and insisted that Brazil should hand over the ousted leader to “pay for the crimes he committed” which he said included corruption and violating the constitution.

But on Tuesday the interim leader said he would “talk with anybody anywhere at any time, including with former President Manuel Zelaya”.

Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican president who unsuccessfully mediated in talks between Zelaya and the interim government in July, told Al Jazeera that he was working on hosting a new round of negotiations.
 
“I think it is much more civilised if we re-start the negotiations … so I have invited both the foreign minister of the de facto government and the Zelaya people to re-initiate this dialogue in my country,” he said.

Soldiers backed by the supreme court and congress toppled Zelaya at gunpoint and sent him into exile in his pyjamas in a coup on June 28 following his attempt to call a constitutional referendum on presidential term limits.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies