Zelaya returns to Honduras border

Mr Zelaya has vowed to keep up pressure on the interim government Exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has returned to the country's border with Nicaragua for the second day running, demanding to be allowed home. He says he will set up camp on the Nicaraguan side to keep up pressure on the interim Honduran government. Speaking into a megaphone, he demanded to be allowed to see his family, from whom he has been separated for a month. On Friday, he made a symbolic crossing into Honduras but withdrew minutes later after being confronted by troops. The US, which opposed Mr Zelaya's dismissal and expulsion last month, has described his current attempts to return home as "reckless". The interim Honduran President, Roberto Micheletti, dismissed the brief return as a publicity stunt, saying Mr Zelaya's action was "ill-conceived and silly". The interior minister said that if the ousted president had dared go any further, he would have been arrested. Zelaya came back to the Honduran border but did not cross it Stalled border During Saturday's return to the frontier, the cowboy-hatted exiled president vowed to wait near the border. Zelaya made a show of entering Honduras: he put one foot in, and left Mario Perdomo Interim Deputy Security Minister Zelaya road show reaches border "Today we are going to set up camps here, with water and food. We are going to stay here this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow morning," he told a crowd of 150 supporters. But he said he would not attempt another crossing for fear of soldiers attacking his supporters, the AP news agency reports. Much of southern Honduras has been paralysed by the crisis, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs says from Honduras. A curfew remains in place day and night and supporters of Mr Zelaya, describing themselves as a resistance movement, have blocked main roads, our correspondent says. Dozens of trucks have been parked for several days in the approaches to the border, unable to make the crossing. And there is no sign as to when, or how, this will all end, our correspondent adds. Symbolic crossing Mr Zelaya's brief crossing into Honduras on Friday lasted less than 30 minutes, with the ousted leader posing next to a sign reading "welcome to Honduras" before walking back to Nicaragua. "I am not afraid but I'm not crazy either," he told Venezuelan-based TV network Telesur. "There could be violence and I don't want to be the cause." Our correspondent said military personnel, apparently unsure how to react, retreated about 20m as Mr Zelaya stepped under a chain marking the border at Las Manos. But Interim Deputy Security Minister Mario Perdomo said authorities did not bother to arrest Mr Zelaya because he barely entered Honduras. "Zelaya made a show of entering Honduras: he put one foot in, and left," Mr Perdomo told Associated Press news agency. "And he did this in a dead zone of the frontier, which we tolerated." People living close to the border were ordered to stay at home to "keep the peace". But thousands of Zelaya supporters ignored the curfew and gathered near the border, prompting police to fire tear gas. At the same time, thousands of supporters of the interim government gathered in the northern Honduras city of San Pedro Sula, holding signs reading "Zelaya can return, but to jail". 'Reckless' US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticised Mr Zelaya's action, calling it "reckless" and "not conducive to the broader effort to restore constitutional order". Anti-Zelaya supporters protested about his planned return Talks in Costa Rica aimed at resolving the political crisis collapsed two weeks ago with no agreement reached, but Mr Zelaya told reporters he was willing to return to negotiations. Mr Zelaya has been in exile since 28 June, when a coup forced him from power. Mr Zelaya had planned to hold a non-binding public consultation to ask people whether they supported moves to change the constitution. His critics said the move was unconstitutional and aimed to remove the current one-term limit on serving as president and pave the way for his possible re-election. He insists he remains the democratically-elected leader of Honduras and had previously attempted to return home on 5 July. On that occasion, his plane was prevented from landing when the Honduran military blocked the runway