ANALYSIS - Zelaya stumbles in bid to lead Honduras again

By Fiona Ortiz

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya may have jeopardized his bid to return to power by agreeing to a U.S.-brokered pact to end a four-month political crisis because the deal contains no guarantees for him.

Days after he applauded an agreement between his camp and that of a de facto government as a "triumph" for democracy, Zelaya is looking increasingly unlikely to be let back to office to serve the last few months of his term.

Washington also feted the deal between Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti as a way to end the tense deadlock since a June 28 coup, but the deal puts Zelaya's return in the hands of Congress, which is stalling on the issue.

The United States, Honduras's top trading partner, has stopped pushing for Zelaya to be reinstated as part of ending Central America's worst political crisis in two decades.

"The accord favors the de facto government," said political consultant Thelma Mejia. "It's a straitjacket for Zelaya."

Zelaya, a forestry magnate who spooked conservative opponents when he grew close to socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, claims last week's pact paved the way for him to return and serve until the end of his term in January.

But the language of the accord leaves it to Congress to decide, and leaders of the 128-seat unicameral Congress declined on Tuesday to call a special session to debate the matter, showing they are in no hurry to bring Zelaya back.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, who was in Tegucigalpa to push the two sides to sign a deal, told CNN on Tuesday that international recognition of Honduras' Nov. 29 presidential vote was not contingent on a Zelaya restitution. He said the issue was up to Congress.