Tegucigalpa: The military-backed regime in Honduras has given Argentine diplomats until Friday to leave the country, the latest escalation in a tit-for-tat political dispute between the two nations.
The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it had ordered Argentina's diplomats gone by Friday, despite Buenos Aires's warning that it had no intention of removing its representatives.
The move was "in strict reciprocity" with Argentina's decision to expel Honduran envoys in Buenos Aires, the Foreign Ministry said.
Honduras on Tuesday broke off diplomatic ties with Argentina, which is pushing hard for the return of ousted president Manuel Zelaya.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana -- part of a delegation from the Organisation of American States (OAS) due to travel shortly to Honduras -- earlier said other countries should do more to help resolve the political crisis in the impoverished Central American country.
On Wednesday, the government of interim leader Roberto Micheletti, which took power in a June 28 coup, also issued a renewed rejection of plans to return Zelaya to power, part of proposals set out by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.
"The unconditional return of Don Manuel Zelaya to the presidency of the republic ... is non-negotiable," the head of Micheletti's cabinet of ministers, Rafael Pineda Ponce, told local media.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 10:08