Toppled Zelaya leaves Honduras for exile in Dominican (Roundup)

Jan 27, 2010, 22:32 GMT

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya on Wednesday left Tegucigalpa after spending months holed up in the Brazilian Embassy after being removed from office.

A military officer guarding the embassy had earlier said that Zelaya had departed the embassy en route to the airport.

Zelaya, who was toppled by the military and expelled to Costa Rica on June 28, secretly returned to Honduras on September 21, taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy. He had remained in the compound until Wednesday.

President Porfirio Lobo, who was sworn into office Wednesday, issued a safe conduct order for Zelaya to be able to leave for the Dominican Republic. Lobo then accompanied his predecessor to Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya, his wife and one daughter were accompanied to Santo Domingo by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, who attended the inauguration ceremony in Tegucigalpa.

A convoy of about 15 vehicles escorted Zelaya to the airport under heavy security, the Honduran daily El Heraldo reported on its website.

Lobo, 62, a conservative business tycoon, won with 52 per cent of the vote in a November 29 presidential election that was held amid international disagreements about its validity.

The election had been scheduled before the coup, but was held under the de facto regime that took over in Honduras after Zelaya's ouster. Zelaya and many foreign governments considered it illegitimate.

The United States welcomed Lobo's inauguration and his message on Wednesday of trying to bring the country back together after months of political turmoil.

'The new president of Honduras is taking the country in the right direction,' US Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzeula told reporters in Washington via teleconference from Honduras.

Valenzuela said the United States will begin restoring aid once Tegucigalpa meets obligations to form a national unity government and truth commission. US aid was suspended following the coup.

Lobo first ran for president four years ago but narrowly lost to Liberal Party candidate Zelaya.