Zelaya pulls out of Honduras unity deal

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he has pulled out of a deal struck to end the country's political crisis.

Speaking to local radio Friday, Zelaya said the deal with the interim government led by President Roberto Micheletti was off as far as he was concerned, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"This deal is dead. The other side has failed to uphold their end," Zelaya reportedly said.

Under the terms of the deal, a government of national unity would be created and the Honduran Congress would be allowed to determine if Zelaya could return to office ahead of planned Nov. 29 national elections, while the United States would recognize the winner even if Congress didn't return Zelaya to power, the newspaper said.

The Journal quoted an unnamed source close to the negotiations as saying that U.S. diplomats failed in a last-ditch attempt to persuade Zelaya to submit names of possible Cabinet ministers to serve in the interim national unity government.

Analysts said Zelaya would like lose a vote in Congress if it came to that, noting they are the same lawmakers who on June 28 voted overwhelmingly to replace him, leading to his ouster.