By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - July 3, 2009 - TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras’ interim leader said he was open to early elections if it resolves an impasse with the world community, as a top diplomat headed to the Central American nation to demand he restore the president ousted by a coup.

With time running out on a Saturday deadline by the Organization of American States to return President Manuel Zelaya to power, OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza was to arrive in Honduras Friday to push for his reinstatement.

Raising fears of possible clashes Friday, approximately 2,000 Zelaya supporters gathered at a university in Tegucigalpa and some said they would march to the presidential palace, where supporters of Roberto Micheletti’s military-backed government were planning to assemble.

Insulza said he will meet with leaders of Honduras’ Supreme Court and Congress — institutions that approved Sunday’s coup — ”basically to clarify exactly what our position is.”

But he has said he will not meet with members of Micheletti’s government to avoid legitimizing it.

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