Honduran Congress will rule on Zelaya after vote

It is Kelly's second trip in less than a week to try to revive the accord. He met separately with Micheletti and Zelaya.

"As friends of the Honduran people, we will continue working with both sides to look for solutions," Kelly said after meeting with Zelaya.

The Honduran crisis has been one of the biggest diplomatic challenges in Latin America for the Obama administration. Washington joined other Western Hemisphere governments in suspending diplomatic ties with Honduras after soldiers flew Zelaya into exile at gunpoint.

Now, Washington could find itself at odds with many Latin American countries if it decides to recognize the election, undermining its efforts to improve relations with the region.

However, the Obama administration is under pressure from Republican congressional leaders to support the vote. Leading Republicans have questioned why the United States has called for the restoration of a president who had aligned himself with leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Some Republicans have also sided with the Micheletti government, which argued that Zelaya's ouster was justified because he had violated a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum on changing the constitution.

Opponents accused Zelaya of trying to extend his time in office by lifting a ban on presidential re-election, as Chavez has done in Venezuela. Zelaya denied that was his goal.

Neither Zelaya or Micheletti are running in the presidential election, which had been scheduled before the coup. One independent, leftist candidate has dropped out of the race to protest the coup. But the top two contenders — including the candidate of Zelaya's Liberal Party — have urged the international community not to punish the next government.

Honduras' Congress is waiting for the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Office to submit opinions on whether Zelaya should be restored to office.

Government lawyers submitted their own opinion Tuesday. Rosa America Miranda, the top government lawyer, would not give details on that opinion, but emphasized that it took into account Zelaya's defiance of the Supreme Court before the coup.

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