De facto Honduras leader ready to sign deal to end crisis
TEGUCIGALPA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' de facto leader Roberto Micheletti said on Thursday that he was ready to sign a deal to end the country's political crisis which could clear the way for reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
"I have authorized my negotiating team to sign a deal that marks the beginning of the end (of the country's political standoff)", Micheletti told a press conference.
The statement came after negotiators of the interim government and Zelaya, who was ousted in a June coup, resumed talks on Thursday after six days of suspension.
The dialogue was resumed after a U.S. team, led by Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, arrived in Honduras for a last-ditch effort to end the crisis, caused by the June 28 coup that ousted elected President Manuel Zelaya. Secretary of Political Affairs of the Organization of American States, Victor Rico, also attended Thursday's dialogue.
"Time is running out. We only have a month. We need an agreement as soon as possible," Shannon told a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Vilma Morales, member of the de facto government commission, said this day was special for Honduras because they would "fix everything" for the peace and reconciliation of the country.
Morales added that she was satisfied sitting at the negotiationtable again with her colleagues, who represented Zelaya.
Meanwhile, Zelaya's representative Rodil Rivera said: "We will sit down to sign the agreements we have reached, mainly the one regarding the Congress to decide if it restitutes Zelaya or not."
The last round of negotiations collapsed after Zelaya pulled his delegation out last Friday. Delegates had reached 95 percent of the agreement, but stumbled on whether or not to give power back to Zelaya.
Zelaya insisted on being reinstated before a planned presidential election to be held on Nov. 29, while de facto leader Roberto Micheletti firmly rejected Zelaya's return.
Shannon called the situation "difficult," but promised his delegation would stay an extra day to help Hondurans broker a deal.
Shannon added that the time to reach a solution was over, as there was only one month remaining until the elections. He stressed that the United States and the international community considered an agreement urgent.
According to Shannon, without an agreement it would be difficult for the international community to ascertain the winner of the general elections to be hosted this month.
He also said that if the de facto government and Zelaya reached an agreement, it would allow the international community to participate in the elections and assure that they would be held in peace.
On a separate occasion, Micheletti put the country's armed forces at the disposal of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on Thursday to ensure that the Nov. 29 elections would go smoothly.
During a ceremony held in a military unit in Tegucigalpa, the soldiers pledged to guard and transport 15,269 voting boxes.
"Fulfilling a constitutional mandate, I am putting the armed forces and the police at the disposal of guaranteeing the free voting, the guard, transportation and vigilance of the electoral material," Micheletti declared at the ceremony.
Honduras will host elections on Nov. 29 to choose a president, 128 deputies for the Congress, 20 for the Central American Parliament and 298 mayors.
The international community has said that it would not recognize those elections until the political crisis in the country was resolved, since it recognized ousted President Manuel Zelaya as the constitutional president of the country.
