Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left Honduran embassy in Nicaraguan capital Managua and set off for border city Esteli Thursday afternoon in an attempt to return home after almost month-long exile.
Sources with the Honduran embassy told Xinhua Zelaya left the diplomatic base at around 4:15 p.m. local time (2215 GMT) in a vehicle caravan escorted by international press.
Zelaya announced on Wednesday after a failed mediation talk in Costa Rica that he plans to cross the Nicaragua-Honduras frontier on Friday.
Elizabeth Sierra, spokeswoman from Honduran embassy in Managua, told reporters that Zelaya's entourage includes his Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, his Agriculture Institute Minister Francisco Funes, Sierra herself and other embassy officials.
Zelaya made a brief speech before his second home-return attempt. He told the press caravan that it would be a legitimate president's peaceful journey back home they were about to make.
Sierra said Zelaya would decide where to enter Honduran territory once he arrives in Esteli.
Other sources with Honduran embassy mentioned possibilities of Zelaya's entry via Honduran borders with neighboring countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador besides Nicaragua.
Zelaya said on Wednesday night that at midday Thursday he would travel to Esteli and Ocotal, Nicarguan region bordering Honduras. He said on Friday he would enter Honduran territory, hopefully to be welcomed not only by his family.
Meanwhile, reporters from local media reported on Thursday that the Honduran migratory authorities are closed for service.
Nicaragua media said that over the frontier Honduran police and soldiers were deployed in nearby areas, seemingly in a tense waiting for order to act.
Nicaragua's Foreign Minister Ana Isabel Morales told official Radio Nicaragua that her government "is observing the situation to take necessary measure as to guarantee our citizens' safety."
On June 28, Zelaya was forced to leave his country by military forces and later deposed by Honduras' Congress. His demand for reinstatement in power has been rejected by the post-coup interim government ever since.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)
