There may be some thawing on Zelaya in Tegucigalpa

There may be some thawing on Zelaya in Tegucigalpa
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The mediator in the political crisis in Honduras says interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti is interested in further negotiations on ending the country's month-long leadership standoff.

Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez said Micheletti has asked him to send an envoy to Honduras to help build political support for a solution. He says Micheletti suggested a former head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias, for the job.

News reports quote a source close to the interim government as saying Micheletti has expressed willingness to support a compromise plan that would allow ousted President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to return to power under certain conditions.

The military threw Zelaya out of the country June 28 and flew him to Costa Rica, saying he was illegally trying to change the constitution in order to extend his term. His efforts to return to Honduras have been unsuccessful.

Zelaya is believed to be in Nicaragua near the Honduran border. Some reports quoted him as saying he would raise a peasant army to win back his job by force if he did not get a concession from the interim government. Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega supports him.

A clash between Nicaraguan and Honduran troops could be a bloody affair, and it is this as well as street riots that Arias is trying to prevent.

The mediation plan calls for Zelaya to finish his term, which ends in January, abandon any effort to change the constitution, and agree to a coalition government.

The de facto government has previously threatened to arrest Zelaya, if he returns. Zelaya has tried twice to enter Honduras but it appeared he did not see the popular support he expected.

No countries have recognized Honduras' caretaker government and many, including the United States, have called for Zelaya to be reinstated and democratic order to be restored.