Tegucigalpa, Sep 21 (DPA) The interim Honduran government and the spokeswoman for the UN in Tegucigalpa denied that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya had returned Monday to the Central American country.

Roberto Micheletti, the former Congress speaker designated to lead the country after Zelaya's ouster, and UN spokeswoman Ana Elsy Mendoza both denied that Zelaya had taken refuge at the UN office in Tegucigalpa.

Sources at the Honduran Embassy in Washington told DPA that Zelaya - who had been expected to speak before the UN General Assembly in New York this week - had returned to his country.

'The president is already in Honduras,' an embassy source said.

The source gave no details as to the ousted president's precise whereabouts, but local media that back the leader said he was at the local UN offices. Past attempts by Zelaya to return to his country have ended in standoffs.