Honduras’ interim leader said he won’t meet face-to-face with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, but said Mr Zelaya could leave the foreign embassy where he is holed up if a country grants him political asylum.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said he has met an interim government official and begun dialogue aimed at ending the country’s protracted political crisis.

Dozens of supporters abandoned former Honduras president Manuel Zelaya to an increasingly isolated embassy in the country’s capital today as the stand-off over his return continued.

Honduras was sealed off from the world today after its deposed president made a dramatic return that sparked off street riots.

Two dozen supporters of Honduras’ ousted president were charged with sedition in an intensifying crackdown on protests against the coup-installed government.

Honduras’ interim president Roberto Micheletti said the country was embarking on a new effort to overcome diplomatic isolation after the June 28 coup.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said both sides in the talks to resolve the coup in Honduras have agreed to resume talks later today, but they remain far apart.

A top aide said exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was heading home today to set up an alternative seat of government inside the country, and will use it as his headquarters in a “final battle” against the coup leaders.

Honduras’ interim leader said he is willing to step down if it helps end his country’s political crisis but only if ousted President Manuel Zelaya isn’t allowed to regain power.

Ousted president Manuel Zelaya said the Honduran people “have the right to insurrection” against the interim government that forced him out of the country.

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya, clearly frustrated with stalled negotiations aimed at resolving the political crisis in Honduras, has today issued an ultimatum to the interim government: Reinstate me, or else.

Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was kept from landing at the country's main airport today because the runway was blocked by military vehicles and groups of soldiers, some of them clashing with a crowd of thousands outside.

Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, travelling aboard a Venezuelan plane, was prevented from landing at the country's main airport today as soldiers are blocked the runway with several military vehicles.

A top diplomat said he is heading to Honduras to demand the return of the president toppled at gunpoint – a mission he said is likely to meet rejection, bringing diplomatic and economic punishment for the impoverished Central American nation.

Thousands of Hondurans demonstrated for the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who vowed to fly home this weekend despite a warrant for his arrest.

Honduras' ousted president Manuel Zelaya has won overwhelming international support as he planned a high-profile return to his chaotic country.

HONDURAS’S ousted president, bolstered by international support, said he will return home this week to regain control.

Police and soldiers clashed with thousands of protesters outside Honduras’ national palace, leaving at least 45 people injured, as world leaders from Barack Obama to Hugo Chavez demanded the return of a president ousted in a military coup.

A military coup has divided Honduras between two leaders – one recognised by world bodies and another backed by the country’s congress, courts and military.

Soldiers ousted the democratically elected president of Honduras yesterday and Congress named a successor, but the leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced what he called an illegal coup and vowed to stay in power.