Ousted president Zelaya accuses US of providing cover for coup

Nov 15, 2009, 5:48 GMT

   Tegucigalpa - Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has rejected any possibility of a deal to restore constitutional order in the two weeks before the next scheduled elections, local media reported.

Zelaya, who was ousted by the military on June 28, informed US President Barack Obama in a letter Saturday that he would not accept any proposal to return him to office temporarily 'to cover up the coup d'etat.'

'This electoral process is illegal because it conceals the military coup and the de facto state of Honduras that does not guarantee free and fair citizen participation,' he wrote.

'It is an anti-democratic electoral maneuver, repudiated by large parts of the population, to cover the material and intellectual authors of the the coup d'etat.'

Zelaya also accused the US government of modifying its initial opposition to the coup, noting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had earlier told him the Obama administration would only recognize the new elections if Zelaya were restored to office first.

The US and several Latin American nations have been trying to mediate a compromise that could restore order and allow Honduras be regain diplomatic recognition that it lost because of the coup.

Zelaya complained that the softened US position had allowed the de facto Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti and the National Congress to allow the clock to run out.

The topic of Zelaya's temporary restitution has not been discussed in the legislature and was not planned to be next week, leaving it until elections week - or afterward.

   Zelaya was ousted and sent into exile on orders of the Supreme Court, which alleged that he was trying to alter the constitution and continue in power beyond his single-term limit.