Carlos Lopez Contreras, foreign minister for Honduras' post-coup government, on Wednesday made a public call for the disarmament of Hondurans and foreigners in Brazil's embassy in Honduras capital Tegucigalpa, which is hosting Honduras' ousted president, as an essential condition for dialogue.
"In order to strengthen this dialogue I believe certain actions must be taken, among them the normalization of the situation in Brazil's embassy, in line with conventions on the right to asylum, " he told reporters.
The interim government, which took power after a June 28 military coup, considers it desirable "that they disarm, if it has not already been done, both foreigners and Hondurans who are behaving irregularly in the Brazilian embassy," he said.
He said that the de facto government had no objections to unarmed foreigners leaving the embassy alongside Brazilian officials, with full guarantees.
He also called for the Organization of American States (OAS) to get a firm commitment from Manuel Zelaya, who is now in the embassy, to call on his supporters to abandon all violence against people, property and public order.
He also called for full support of the nation's elections, planned for late November, before any debate on whether the post- coup government is legitimate or not.
Contreras was speaking at a press conference, which the OAS' Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza also attended, in a city center hotel where the post-coup government began dialogue with Zelaya's representatives.