The Honduran Congress yesterday avoided a vote on whether ousted president Manuel Zelaya can return to power after a coup last month, saying it was a matter for the Supreme Court to decide.
Congress head Jose Alfredo Saavedra said deputies could not rule on Mr Zelaya's return, part of a plan by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias to end the Honduras crisis, because it is a constitutional question.
The United States insisted yesterday it wants leftist Zelaya reinstated, but made no commitment to tightening sanctions to pressure the de facto government that replaced him after a June 28th coup.
Mr Zelaya, an ally of Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez, was ousted as he sought a referendum vote to change the constitution. He is now in exile in neighboring Nicaragua.
The Honduran Congress did create a committee yesterday to study some elements of Mr Arias' proposal, including an amnesty for political crimes, and it was expected to reach a decision by Thursday, Mr Saavedra said.
Talks between the rivals in Honduras ran into trouble last week over the question of Mr Zelaya's return as president - a condition that Honduras' de facto leader Roberto Micheletti and his supporters have said is impossible and illegal.
Mr Micheletti said he would nevertheless consult Congress and the Supreme Court over whether Mr Zelaya can return.
A Supreme Court source said the court had considered the proposal yesterday but there was no word on when it would announce a judgment.
The coup is Central America's worst political crisis in two decades and a test of US president Barack Obama's commitment to improving relations with Latin America.
Reuters