Honduras interim leader 'to step aside' ahead of polls

Mr Micheletti became interim leader after the army-led takeover on 28 June

Honduras' interim leader, Roberto Micheletti, has said that he will step aside briefly ahead of elections scheduled for the end of the month.

He has said he will be absent from public functions between 25 November and 2 December.

Mr Micheletti also ordered citizens to hand in their weapons in an attempt to avoid pre-poll violence.

The US state department welcomed the news, saying it would would allow the country to focus on the vote.

"We welcome that he's going to take a leave of absence," state department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said from Washington.

"The announcement allows some breathing space for the process in Honduras to move forward," he added.

Boycott urged

In a national address, Mr Micheletti said his move aimed to "concentrate all the attention of the Honduran people on the electoral process and not on the political crisis".

But it was rebuffed by President Manuel Zelaya, forced from office and out of the country on 28 June.

Mr Zelaya's critics said he was seeking to amend the constitution to remove the current one-term limit on serving as president, and pave the way for his re-election.

But Mr Zelaya suggested that Mr Micheletti's move was merely a "crude manoeuvre" which revealed that his presence in office "stains the electoral process".

Mr Zelaya, who has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy following his secret return to the country in September, has called on his supporters to boycott the polls and urged people to come out on to the streets.