UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Zelaya says he'll return to Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 5 (UPI) -- Deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya said he will return to Honduras Sunday, even as the man who replaced him after the coup threatened to arrest him.

Zelaya said he would arrive at Tegucigalpa's Toncontin Airport with a delegation including the presidents of Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

His post-coup successor, Roberto Micheletti, said he would have Zelaya arrested if he arrives in the country, the Times reported. If he goes ahead with his pledge, Zelaya would be ignoring a warning from one of Honduras' most prominent religious leaders, who urged Zelaya to stay out of the country and accept his ouster.

Oscar Andres Rodriguez, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Tegucigalpa, made a statement on local television, addressing viewers in front of a Honduran flag and a painting of Jesus Christ, The Miami Herald reported.

"On the day of your inauguration, you cited three commandments of the rules of God -- not to lie, not to steal, not to kill," Rodriguez said. "If you respect life, if you love life ... please meditate because if not, it could be too late."

The archbishop suggested Friday the Organization of American States reconsider its backing of Zelaya.

"To the Organization of American States, please pay attention to everything illegal that was happening before the 28th of June," Rodriguez said. "This is a community that will define our own destiny without any unilateral pressures. We renounce any blockades, which will only hurt the poor."

Zelaya was awakened from sleep last weekend and forced to leave the country in his pajamas. Leaders of the military coup and their supporters say he was conspiring to change the constitution to allow him to remain as president indefinitely.

Philippines bomb kills three, injures 37

COTABATO CITY, Philippines, July 5 (UPI) -- A bomb detonated in a restaurant killing three and injuring 37 Sunday near a cathedral in Cotabato City, Philippines, authorities said.

Most of those killed and wounded were soldiers, Philippine armed forces Maj. Randolph Cabangbang told CNN.

The bomb exploded near the Immaculate Conception Cathedral while services were being held, but military officials said they believed the restaurant was the target.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front was investigating whether its members planted the bomb, the group's Web site said.

The Liberation Front, the Philippines largest Muslim separatist organization, has fought for decades for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines.

Parliamentary voting opens in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 5 (UPI) -- Economic worries and government corruption were among the key issues Sunday as Bulgarians voted to elect a new parliament, sources said.

Nearly seven million people were eligible to vote, with polls suggesting an opposition party, the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, held a lead over the incumbent Socialists, the BBC reported.

Bulgarians have voted the incumbent government out of power at each general election during the last 19 years, the BBC said.

Bulgaria last year lost access to some of its European Union funds for failing to deal with government corruption and organized crime. Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, with EU officials warning the nation's leaders to cleanup the government.

Britain works to free final embassy worker

LONDON, July 5 (UPI) -- British officials say they've been assured the eighth of nine embassy workers detained in Iran is to be released Sunday.

The eighth worker was to be freed without a court process or charges, leaving the embassy's chief political analyst as the sole member of the group still in custody, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC.

"All of our efforts are now directed towards getting that person out," Miliband said.

The chief analyst, an Iranian citizen, is charged with acting against Iran in conspiracy with Britain to undermine the Iranian regime, the analyst's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said.

Khorramshahi said Saturday he had been unable to meet with his client in Evin prison in Tehran or see a copy of the indictment, the BBC reported.

The analyst is an "honorable, patriotic Iranian, who has been working in a completely open and transparent way" for the United Kingdom, Miliband said. "The allegations of improper conduct have absolutely no basis."

The embassy workers were arrested last month amid accusations Britain and the United States were fanning unrest over the presidential election, which protesters said had been rigged in favor of incumbent hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad wants talks in front of media

TEHRAN, July 5 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told medical school deans Saturday negotiations with the United States should be done in front of the media.

The Iranian Student News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as telling the deans the recent presidential election has put Iran in a stronger position to confront President Barack Obama, CNN reported.

"I will go to the United Nations and will invite Obama to negotiations," Ahmadinejad said.

He said talks should be conducted "in front of the international media, not a sit-down behind closed doors in order to talk about matters."

Ahmadinejad has accused the United States and other western countries of "meddling" in Iranian affairs for criticizing the results of the elections.

Also Saturday, a senior group of Iranian clergy issued a statement that harshly criticized Ayatollah Ali Khameini and the government for proclaiming Ahmadinejad's re-election and using force against protesters.