Enlarge imageBy Fiona Ortiz
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said on Thursday that a deal to end a four-month political crisis was at risk of collapse but behind the scenes negotiators worked to form a temporary cabinet to run the country.
Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti signed a pact last week to end their standoff, but each claims he is the one to lead a so-called unity government until a new president takes office in January.
The impoverished coffee- and textile-exporting country has been isolated diplomatically and cut off from international aid since Zelaya was ousted in a June 28 coup that set off Central America's worst political crisis in two decades.
The Organisation of American States, which is overseeing talks to end the crisis, said Micheletti must step aside once the reconciliation cabinet is formed under the terms of last week's accord.
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A diplomat close to the talks said the senior minister of the interim cabinet would lead the government once Micheletti stepped aside. However, Micheletti said late on Wednesday he would head the unity government.
The pact set a Thursday deadline to form a new government, but Chilean ex-President Ricardo Lagos, who headed an OAS mission to verify the accord, said talks were still ongoing.
"We have only a few hours left and Congress has not met and we don't see on the horizon any indication that there is political will to fulfil these accords," Zelaya told the Venezuela-based Telesur television network.
Honduras holds a presidential election on November 29 and Zelaya says it will not be legitimate unless he is first restored to power to finish out his term.
But the accord does not guarantee that he will return to office, leaving the decision up to Honduran lawmakers in Congress. The United States and the OAS have stopped demanding Zelaya's reinstatement.
The United States, which brokered last week's accord, says it will recognise the elections now that both sides have agreed to end the crisis.
The U.S. Senate confirmed on Thursday a nomination to an important Latin American post that had been blocked for months by partisan feuding over the Honduran political crisis.
On a voice vote, the Senate confirmed Arturo Valenzuela for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Republican Jim DeMint had barred a Senate vote on Valenzuela since July to protest what he said were the Obama administration's efforts to try to force the restoration of Zelaya's left-leaning government.
DeMint said on Thursday he was no longer objecting to confirmation because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had pledged to him that Washington would recognise the outcome of the Honduran elections later this month, regardless of whether Zelaya is returned to office.
Zelaya was forced out of the country by the military on June 28 after a secret Supreme Court ruling that he had violated the constitution by launching a drive to change it. Congress quickly installed Micheletti as interim leader but his government has failed to win recognition abroad.
Hundreds of Zelaya supporters gathered outside of Congress on Wednesday to pressure for his return.
A small homemade explosive went off in a public bathroom a few blocks from the rally, damaging a door and plumbing, but no one was injured. Late on Wednesday night a grenade was set off at a radio station seen as more sympathetic to the Micheletti government, and one person was slightly injured.
Honduras is deeply polarized over the crisis and the de facto government temporarily shut down media outlets supportive of Zelaya. Human rights groups have documented abuses including deaths since the coup.
(Editing by Kieran Murray and Todd Eastham)
