Micheletti expresses "unwavering commitment" to staying in power

TEGUCIGALPA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' interim government leader Roberto Micheletti expressed here on Monday an "unwavering commitment" to thwarting the return of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya.

"My position is unwavering.I continue in the place where we were," said Micheletti in a speech at the presidential residence.

The mediator of the Honduran political crisis, Nobel peace laureate Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, had called for a unity government led by Zelaya.

Arias asked for 72 hours to try convincing Micheletti to accept the plan proposed at the mediation talks that ended Sunday in Costa Rica.

Micheletti said the San Jose mediation talks could proceed on conditions that Zelaya, "who has broken the Republic's constitution not once but various times," does not return to Honduras.

He said he had called U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday, requesting Washington to send an observer in response to rumors of heavy civilian deaths in the aftermath of the coup.

U.S. President Barack Obama, declining to recognize Micheletti as the legitimate president, hasn't cut aid to Honduras. The United States has requested Zelaya not to return before a diplomatic solution is reached between the two parties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Zelaya's supporters staged a demonstration outside the Congress, pressing his immediate reinstatement.

The National Front Against the Coup said it was impossible for the mediation in Costa Rica to be successful given the tough stances adopted by Micheletti.

The European Union has made a "difficult decision" to suspend 65.5 million euros (about 93 million dollars) in aid to Honduras, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU external relations commissioner.