Honduras leader endures pressure on Zelaya return

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' de facto leader Roberto Micheletti is resisting international pressure to reinstate his rival President Manuel Zelaya, but envoys for the leftist ousted in a coup hope for a deal on Friday.

Soldiers exiled Zelaya on June 28, but he quietly returned to Honduras last month and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the capital to avoid arrest.

Micheletti is hoping to stay at the helm until a new president is chosen in next month's election, although he may give in to the coffee-exporting nation's top trade partner, the United States, which wants Zelaya back before the November 29 vote.

Negotiators for Micheletti and Zelaya are honing a tentative plan that could end the crisis, but Micheletti has not ceded the key point of Zelaya's return, despite signs of back channel pressure from the United States.

"The only part left is the restitution of President Zelaya, which should be resolved today," said Mayra Mejia, one of three envoys representing Zelaya in talks that began last week.

Micheletti's camp is more cautious about the possible outcome of Friday's session, which began mid-morning.

The putsch brought back memories of Central America's ugly past of civil wars and state-backed violence. It is a foreign policy headache for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has promised better relations with Latin America.

Foreign donors have pulled millions of dollars of aid from Honduras since the coup, but Zelaya wants tougher sanctions aimed at destabilizing his former friend and ally.

Micheletti, a brusque political veteran named president shortly after the coup, got a boost this week when Honduras qualified for soccer's World Cup, giving the divided country a brief sense of unity.

Thousands of people accompanied the national team to the presidential palace on Thursday, the first big public gathering since Micheletti gave the police and army broad powers to suppress pro-Zelaya protests.

Rights groups accuse the de facto government of major abuses, including deaths. Human Rights Watch on Friday said the government was blocking its own prosecutors from investigating.

Obama is increasingly criticized by some Republicans for supporting Zelaya's return. Like Micheletti, they say elections will resolve the crisis.

(Additional reporting by Magdalena Morales and Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa and Susan Cornwell in Washington)