By William M. Reilly

    UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya tearfully recounted to the UN General Assembly (GA) on Tuesday his pre-dawn gunpoint rousting and forced flight to Costa Rica then vowed to return to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Thursday, escorted by two international diplomats and two Latin American presidents.

The ousted President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 30, 2009. Manuel Zelaya expressed his gratitude toward the international community and tearfully described the last moments in his home country before being thrown onto a plane and whisked away. (Xinhua/Gu Xinrong) Photo Gallery>>>

    Zelaya arrived in New York Tuesday morning from Nicaragua at the invitation of GA President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister, just hours before his address to the 192-member body, said a spokesman for d'Escoto, Enrique Yeves.

    "Thursday I will be returning" to Tegucigalpo, capital of Honduras, Zelaya told reporters after the speech. "Miguel d'Escoto,the president of the GA, has said that he is going to travel with me to our capital. Today, Cristina Kirchner, president of Argentina, said she will accompany me on the aircraft. The secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Miguel Insulza, will be with me. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador will accompany me on the airplane. So, this is a struggle of all of us."

    The exile "arrived this morning and went to the hotel to change clothes," said Yeves. "When the president heard he was going to Washington for the OAS meeting he was invited here."

    Zelaya left later in the day for Washington.

    The garrulous Zelaya, wearing an over-size dark and shining suit he adjusted as he spoke, sometimes leaning casually on the dark green podium, welcomed a resolution the GA had just passed which condemned the coup d'etat and demanded restoration of a constitutional government. He said it expressed the indignation of the people of Honduras.

    "This resolution is historic," he said. "It is significant and it will empower every last citizen of the world."

The ousted President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 30, 2009. (Xinhua/Gu Xinrong) Photo Gallery>>>

    Zelaya welcomed the support by regional groups from the Americas to Europe, which all condemned the military coup.

    He listed names of scores of head of states from Latin America and elsewhere and international figures who had telephoned him of their support.

    "There always are those who wish to protect the status quo," Zelaya said. "It is always difficult to bring about change. The United Nations is one such instrument to uphold democracy and freedom. I would like to applaud this organization. Thank you all."

    While "a number of charges" had been leveled against him, he pointed out: "I have not been put on trial. Nobody has told me what my crime is. No accusations have been brought to my attention by a judge."

    Zelaya recalled he was elected in 2005 to a four-year term beginning in 2006 and intends to finish his term.

    "I never thought I would have to hark back to the old days," he said, referring to the Cold War era when Latin America was rife with rebellion and putsch.

    Zelaya has been accused with attempting to engineer the possibility of another term, forbidden by the present Constitution, seeking out a vote that was to have occurred on Sunday, which the army balked at when asked to distribute ballot boxes.

    "I sought to launch a public survey," he said.

    His opponents alleged "this constituted a crime," Zelaya said. "The law is not binding. It's comparable to Gallup Polls, a polling entity. They are surveys that are used to take the temperature of the public."

    The poll never occurred.

    "I was awoken by shouts, hammering at door below, screams," he said, his voice becoming emotionally charged. "These are moments I do not wish to remember. It breaks my heart to see humanity slide backwards."

    As his eyes welled with tears, he recounted hearing rifle shots and attempting to telephone friends "to warn them of what was happening, and in particular a journalist who was in the area."

    He said at least eight heavy rifles were pointed at his chest by soldiers in full combat gear, "Drop that mobile phone, or we will shoot," the men said.

    "My mobile phone was ripped from my hand. 'If it is your order, shoot me,' I said. They grabbed my arms and said, 'we're taking you away.'"

    Zelaya said he was in an airplane 15 minutes later and in Costa Rica 45 minutes after that.

    "I was dumped at the airport still wearing my night clothes," he said.

    The ousted president, at a news conference, said: "I have always said anyone who is afraid should not become a politician."

Honduras' Micheletti warns deposed president Zelaya not to return

    TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' post-coup leader Roberto Micheletti said that deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, should not return in a Tuesday interview with domestic radio station HRN.

    "If Zelaya loves Honduras he should not come," Micheletti said. Zelaya has announced plans to return to Honduras on Thursday, in the company of the president of the UN General Assembly, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the president of Argentina.  Full story

Honduras attorney general issues arrest warrants for president deposed in coup

    TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' attorney general, Luis Alberto Rubi, told media on Tuesday that his office had issued arrest warrants for deposed President Manuel Zelaya and that Zelaya would be arrested if he attempts to enter Honduras.

    "Once he enters the nation he will be arrested by the National Police, and what's more instructions have been sent to the International Police," he told local media.  Full story

Honduras' Micheletti joins anti-Zelaya rally in central Tegucigalpa

    TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' post-coup leader, Roberto Micheletti, joined a rally of sympathizers in a public park in Honduras capital Tegucigalpa on Tuesday, a day after anti-government rallies were dispersed by troops with tear gas and shooting.

    "They told me a few people with leftist intentions would try to scare us, but not the brave men and women of our nation," Micheletti told a crowd that chanted "Democracy! Democracy!" in response. He added that existing general election plans would go ahead on Nov. 29 and that a new president would be sworn in on Jan.27, 2010.  Full story

Post-coup Honduras gov't threatens to jail returning president Zelaya

    TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' courts are ready with arrest warrants for President Manuel Zelaya, who was forced into exile during a Sunday military coup and plans to return to his nation on Thursday, the newly-appointed Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez Colindres said on Tuesday.

    "Courts have files ready to charge with responsibility for violating the constitution, drug trafficking, organized crime and multi-million-dollar misuse of funds. As soon as he arrives he will be arrested," said Ortez, who was sworn in as foreign minister on Monday.  Full story