TEGUCIGALPA, (Reuters) – Honduras’ rival leaders  agreed yesterday to new talks to end the country’s political  crisis, but they were still bitterly divided over the  reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Carlos Lopez, the interim government’s foreign minister,  said it would not give in to international demands for Zelaya’s  return to power in the third round of talks mediated by Costa  Rican President Oscar Arias.

“This hypothesis of a possible return of Mr. Zelaya to  occupy the presidency is completely ruled out,” Lopez said.

Arias was expected to make changes to proposals rejected by  the de facto leaders, but a Costa Rican government source said  he will stick to the position backing Zelaya’s return, which  has been supported by the United States and Latin America.

Zelaya was also sending negotiators to the talks, a source  said, but has promised to go back to Honduras without a deal if  necessary, raising fears of violence.

Zelaya was seized by the military and whisked out of the  country on June 28 after Honduras’ Congress and Supreme Court  accused him of violating the constitution by trying to extend  presidential term limits. A leftist, he had angered the  country’s business elite by moving the country closer to  Venezuela’s firebrand leader Hugo Chavez.

Talks to broker an end to Central America’s worst crisis in  almost two decades broke down over the weekend, but Arias has  apparently brought a new proposal to the table.

Honduras’ de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, installed by  Congress after Zelaya’s ouster, has pledged to arrest the  deposed leader if he tries to return.