Zelaya has said it is the international community's responsibility to ensure his reinstatement [EPA]

Jose Miguel Insulza will push for Zelaya to be restored to power when he meets members of congress and the supreme court during his short visit on Friday.

The 35-member OAS has set a Saturday deadline for Honduras to comply with its demands.

"I cannot say I'm confident, I will do everything I can, but I think it will be very hard to turn things around in a couple of days," Insulza said.

The OAS has threatened to expel Honduras from the regional grouping if it fails to meet its deadline.

Crisis proposals

The military-backed interim government and Roberto Micheletti, the interim president, have said that while they will consider bringing forward the elections, they are not willing to reinstate Zelaya for any length of time.

A large demonstration in support of the interim government went ahead in Tegucigalpa as Insluza arrived in the country.

But supporters of Zelaya say that they have been prevented from gathering in the city by security forces.

"The pro-Micheletti demonstration is huge. Pro-coup supporters have been bussed in from all over the country, we understand," Newman reported.

"But on the other hand, those [pro-Zelaya supporters] who wanted to demonstrate in front of the head of the OAS have been kept away; their buses have not been allowed to enter the capital."

'No government talks'

Insulza has already said he will not talk to members of the military-backed interim government as his organisation does not recognise it.

"We are not going to Honduras to negotiate, we are going to Honduras to ask them to change what they have been doing now, and find ways in which we can return to normalcy," he said before his trip.

Newman said that the current crisis is the "biggest challenge that the OAS has ever had to face".

"There is absolute consensus in the international community that they have to use their diplomatic might to reverse this coup d'etat. There is consensus that this kind of thing can not happen, and should not happen," she said.

Zelaya has vowed to return to Honduras on Saturday, despite warnings he will be arrested.

He has said it was the responsibility of the international community to ensure he was reinstated.

At a news conference in Panama City, Zelaya urged his supporters to keep demonstrating.

"I call on the people to keep up the banners. The street is ours. They've taken the institutions away from us, but the street belongs to the people," he said.

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