Micheletti has stood firm in face of calls to reinstate the ousted president [Reuters]

The president of the court rejected a call by Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the OAS, to restore Manuel Zelaya to power ahead of a Saturday deadline, Danilo Izaguirre, a court spokesman, said.

"Insulza asked Honduras to reinstate Zelaya, but the president of the court categorically answered that there is an arrest warrant for him," he said on Friday in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

"Now the OAS has to decide what it will do."

OAS renounced

Insulza, the OAS chief, flew to Honduras on Friday to demand that the interim government restore Zelaya.

Zelaya was removed from power as he was about to press ahead with a non-binding referendum on constitutional change.

The 35-member OAS had set Saturday as the deadline for the military-backed interim government to comply with its demands, or be expelled from the regional bloc.

But Honduras's interim government beat the OAS to it and on Friday renounced the organisation's charter.

Roberto Micheletti, the interim president, said the OAS was attempting to impose "unilateral and indignant resolutions" on the new government.

"It is better to pay this high price ... than live undignified and bow our heads to the demands of foreign governments," Micheletti said.

The interim government has also said it would arrest Zelaya if he returns to Honduras.

Despite this, Zelaya has vowed to return accompanied by regional leaders.

Cristina Fernandez, the Argentine president, will accompany Zelaya from Washington DC, the US capital, to Honduras on Sunday, an Argentine government source said on Friday.

"Tonight she's travelling to Washington. On Sunday, she'll leave from Washington to Honduras," the source told reporters, on condition of anonymity.

Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, and Miguel D'Escoto, the president of the UN General Assembly, will also accompany Zelaya, the source said.

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