Honduran talks begin without rivals meeting

Talks to resolve a political standoff over last month's military-backed coup in Honduras began Thursday in Costa Rica without a face-to-face meeting between the Latin American country's ousted president and the man selected to replace him.

President Manuel Zelaya appeared first at the home of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, but left before his rival and former friend Roberto Micheletti arrived.

As he headed back to his hotel, Zelaya called for "the re-establishment of the state of law, democracy and the return of the president elected by the Honduran people."

Micheletti, a member of the ousted leader's Liberal party who was appointed president after the coup, insisted Zelaya must relinquish any claim to the presidency.

Costa Rican officials said they hoped to get Zelaya and Micheletti together later in the process but acknowledged Micheletti had left the country after his meeting with Arias.

The interim Honduran leader said he was "satisfied" with his meeting and that presidential elections would be held in November as planned.

The military expelled Zelaya from Honduras on June 28 just hours before a rogue referendum on constitutional reform he had called, defying the courts and the country's national congress.

Opponents feared Zelaya would use the referendum to remain in power after his term ends on Jan. 27, 2010. The Honduran constitution limits presidents to a single four-year term.

Micheletti has maintained Zelaya would face charges including treason if he tried to return to Honduras and that nothing short of a foreign invasion "using guns," would restore him to power.

Arias was asked to mediate negotiations by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"In two days there could be a solution or it could be that in two months there is no solution," said Arias, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for mediating civil wars in Central America.

But once talks start, "positions begin to soften," he added.