Update: OAS gives three-day deadline to Honduran coup leaders

Honduran coup leaders have three days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, The Organisation of American States (OAS) said today, before Honduras risks being suspended from the group, according to Barry Schweid of the Associated Press.



OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza delivered what he called \"an ultimatum\" as OAS talks regarding the crisis dragged into the early-morning hours. The talks began Tuesday afternoon.



In a sharply worded resolution, the OAS said it vehemently condemned the coup and \"the arbitrary detention and expulsion\" of Zelaya.



The coup, the resolution said, has produced an \"unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order.\" The envoys demanded Zelaya\'s immediate and safe return to power.



Calling Zelaya\'s overthrown an \"old-fashioned coup,\" Insulza said: \"We need to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere.\"



Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup Sunday, planned to return to Honduras on Thursday, accompanied by Insulza, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador and the head of the U.N. General Assembly, and seek restoration of his authority. Wednesday morning, however, he said that trip would be delayed until the weekend.



Roberto Micheletti, named by Honduras\' Congress as the new president, said Tuesday that Zelaya could be met with an arrest warrant if he returned.



Zelaya has called the coup the work of \"a small group of usurpers\" who carried out \"an act of aggression attacking the democratic will of the people.\"



The United States (US) said it saw no acceptable solution to Zelaya\'s ouster other than returning him to power. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the U.S. was still reviewing whether to cut off aid to the Central American nation.