TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras's post-coup de facto leader said on Friday he would give up his presidential duties for a week, a step Washington welcomed as a way to help ease a five-month-old political crisis.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras's post-coup de facto leader said on Friday he would give up his presidential duties for a week, a step Washington welcomed as a way to help ease a five-month-old political crisis.

Despite political unrest, a relaxing vacation in beautiful Honduras is possible. "The president's been arrested already this morning," hotel owner Jeff Kuken told my wife and me one Sunday morning in late June.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran lawmakers will wait until after a November 29 election to decide whether to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya, delaying a vote central to a U.S.-led deal to end months of political crisis.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras's de facto leader said he may give up his presidential duties for a week so voters can focus on an election that Washington hopes will help end a five-month-old political crisis.

The United States on Friday welcomed a move by interim Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti to step down briefly, saying it boosted chances for ending the months-long political showdown.

The interim leadership in Honduras has vowed to use all security measures at its disposal to ensure a safe election this month and emerge from the country's crippling political crisis.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said on Saturday he would refuse to return to the presidency as part of any deal to end the crisis sparked by his ouster, saying that to do so would legitimize a June coup.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A speech to the U.N. General Assembly by a representative of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's government has been postponed from Saturday to Monday, a U.N. official said.

The stakes rose in Honduras Sunday after ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, holed up at Brazil's embassy in Tegucigalpa, called on his supporters for a final offensive -- and coup leaders respond by giving Brazil a harsh warning.

Protests have been mounting here, as thousands of supporters of deposed President Manuel Zelaya took to the streets 90 days after his ouster and hopes faded for a way out of a tense standoff in the nation's capital.

Stakes rose in Honduras Sunday after ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, holed up at Brazil's embassy, called on his supporters for a final offensive and coup leaders responded with a harsh warning to Brazil.

Honduras expels OAS advance team members, gives Brazil ultimatum on Embassy standoff. Honduras' interim government on Sunday expelled personnel from the Organization of American States looking to set up a mediation effort and gave Brazil a 10-day ultimatum to decide what to do with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.

Honduras' interim government on Sunday expelled personnel from the Organization of American States looking to set up a mediation effort and gave Brazil a 10-day ultimatum to decide what to do with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.

Tensions rose in Honduras on Sunday in anticipation of fresh unrest after ousted leader Manuel Zelaya urged his supporters to stage a final offensive and coup leaders responded with a harsh warning to Brazil.

De facto leaders in Honduras took an increasingly hard line Sunday, expelling four members of the Organization of American States and threatening to revoke Brazil's diplomatic status.

Honduras' interim government on Sunday expelled personnel from the Organization of American States looking to set up a mediation effort and gave Brazil a 10-day ultimatum to decide what to do with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.

De facto leaders in Honduras threatened to close Brazil's embassy for harboring ousted President Manuel Zelaya and moved to suppress dissent with a clampdown on civil liberties.

A senior US official on Monday branded last week's return to Honduras by President Manuel Zelaya following a coup in June as "irresponsible" and said it would not help restore democracy.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has not fulfilled his promises to change U.S. foreign policy and may not be fully in control of the government, Cuba's foreign minister told the United Nations on Monday.