Honduras takes dispute with Brazil to U.N. court

By Aaron Gray-Block

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Honduras de facto government has started proceedings at the U.N. court in The Hague to stop Brazil giving refuge to ousted President Manuel Zelaya in its embassy in Tegucigalpa.

Brazil immediately disputed the move, saying that government had no standing to file it.

Zelaya has been in the embassy since last month following a military coup after he angered business leaders, the military and political rivals by moving Honduras closer to Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez.

In its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to lodge a legal case against Brazil, the de facto Honduran government says Zelaya and others are using the embassy as a platform for political propaganda and threatening peace and public order.

Honduras requested the ICJ, or world court, declare that Brazil does not have the right to allow its embassy to be used to promote "manifestly illegal activities" by Honduran citizens.

It wants the court to order Brazil to stop providing refuge.

Brazil said the move has no legal foundation.

"The de facto Honduran government has no legitimacy to lodge a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice," a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Brasilia said.