Deposed leader to exit Honduras

Porfirio Lobo's first act will be to organise safe passage out of the country for Manuel Zelaya, the deposed leader of Honduras.

Deposed leader Manuel Zelaya was set to leave Honduras Wednesday for exile as the swearing in of president-elect Porfirio Lobo raised hopes of ending months of political turmoil.

Lobo's first act will be to guarantee the safe passage out of the country of Zelaya, who has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy since September out of fear of arrest after being toppled in June.

Zelaya has accepted an invitation to go to the Dominican Republic.

- We are going to go to the Brazilian embassy ... to accompany President Zelaya so that he can get to the airport - Lobo, a 62-year old conservative politician, said.

Lobo, who was elected in controversial November polls called by interim leader Roberto Micheletti, is to be sworn in Wednesday at a ceremony in the Honduran capital.

United States key to Lobo's ambitions

The immediate challenges facing Lobo are to fill state coffers starved of trade revenues and foreign credits, and to bring Honduras back into the family of Latin American nations after being frozen out over Zelaya's ouster.

The United States is the key to those ambitions. Arturo Valenzuela, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, was to attend the ceremony in a sign of Washington's acceptance of Lobo.

Others also to attend were presidents Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, Ricardo Martinelli of Panama and Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan, and Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos.

France was also ''ready to support the new Honduran authorities'' as Lobo embarked on a period of national reconciliation, a foreign ministry spokesman said in Paris.

But several nations -- Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela among them -- refuse to recognize Lobo as president, saying it would imply approval of Zelaya's ouster and of coups generally.

Brazil does not recognize Lobo's government

- The government has not sent a representative and will not send one because it doesn't recognize the electoral event in which Lobo was elected - an official in Brazil's foreign ministry told AFP.

- For Brazil, the situation has not changed. For now, Brazil does not recognize Lobo's government - he added.

Honduran lawmakers and top judges said they conspired to topple Zelaya because he was threatening the constitution by trying to stay in power beyond his single permitted four-year term.

They claimed he was egged on by his chief foreign ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom Micheletti accused of meddling in Honduras's affairs.

A Honduran judge Tuesday dismissed all charges against six military commanders who helped organize the coup.

Congress was expected Wednesday to approve an amnesty for Micheletti and all involved in the ouster.